Unhearded bench player Lonnie Walker led a fourth-quarter rally against Golden State Warriors. The 24-year-old Walker erupted for 15 fourth-quarter points as the Lakers completed a dramatic 104-101 victory. For the past one year, Walker has struggled with multiple injuries & also establishing himself since joining the Lakers a year back on a one-year contract.
James LeBron who contributed 27 points in the victory asked Walker to be ready for the before the game.“I’ve been telling him ‘Lonnie you stay ready. We’re going to need you at some point,” James said.
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“For him to be as young as he is, to have that professionalism, to come out and stay ready when his number was called, we don’t win this game without Lonnie Walker tonight, that’s for sure.”
With this win, the Lakers took a 3-1 lead in the series. For a long time, it seemed like the Lakers will win the series. With Stephen Curry’s 31 points, 10 rebounds & 14 assists in a dazzling playback performance Golden State had an 84-77 lead till the fourth quarter. But as soon as Walker stepped in tables turned, with Walker scoring 15 points leading the Lakers to a 27-17 points win against the Warriors in the final frame.
‘A resilient bunch’
“We’re just a resilient bunch,” James said. “They hit us with haymaker after haymaker after haymaker, trying to get us to fall. We just stayed in the fight. It’s a 48-minute game, a 12-round boxing match. And we stayed in it for 12 rounds and were able to pull through.”
Warriors coach Steve Kerr paid tribute to Walker’s fourth-quarter performance.
“I don’t know whether he scored all their points in the fourth quarter but it felt like it,” Kerr said. “He made a huge impact.
