Credit: Twitter
The 24-year-old shooting guard, Lonnie Walker IV made the difference in a stressful playoff game against defending champions Golden State Warriors that featured future Hall of Famers like Anthony Davis, Stephen Curry, and Lebron James. The Lakers guard become the first Laker since Kobe Bryant in 1997 to have 15+ points off the bench in the fourth quarter of a Playoff game.
In Game 4 on Monday night, Walker came off the bench and scored all 15 of his points in the last quarter, helping the Lakers defeat the Warriors 104-101 and take a 3-1 lead in the Conference Semifinals. In the last period, he came close to outscoring Golden State (17 points) on his own and his contribution in Game 4 will be remembered for years.
The Warriors made every effort to control the game, but they utterly lost it in the fourth quarter when they were unable to score like they did in the first three. After the game, a video of Lonnie being embraced by LeBron James and Anthony Davis went viral, demonstrating how much the veterans valued what he had accomplished. The two Hall of Famers were seen hugging and congratulating the youngster after his outstanding performance against the Dubs in a heartwarming video.
The Laker’s official social media handle uploaded the video, where Lebron James appreciated Walker in a post-game interview saying, "We don’t win this game tonight without Lonnie Walker, that’s for sure."
Lakers coach Darwin Ham also praises Walker
"He had an injury, fell out of circulation due to no fault of his own, but he remained a trooper, remained professional, remained high-spirited, positive," said Darwin Ham after the Lakers took a 3-1 lead against the Warriors. Meanwhile, the defending champions will next host the Lakers at the Chase Center for Game 5 in the NBA Playoffs 2023 on Wednesday night.
