LeBron James is no longer a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, but he made his mark on the franchise during his eight years with it. He consistently played at a high level during that time, even if certain aspects of his game had clearly slipped, and he delivered an NBA championship in 2020.
As we take a look at James' greatest performances as a member of the Lakers in chronological order, here is a look back at Game 5 of the 2020 Western Conference finals, when the team put away the Denver Nuggets and advanced to the NBA Finals.
Ready for the Final Step
The Lakers started off the 2020 West finals with a 126-114 victory. They then got past the Nuggets, 105-103, in Game 2 thanks to a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Anthony Davis. However, Los Angeles fell by eight points
in Game 3 despite a triple-double by James, and suddenly there was a bit of doubt about whether it had what it took to go all the way.
After righting themselves with a 114-108 Game 4 win, the Lakers took the court in the Walt Disney World Resort bubble for Game 5 with a chance to clinch a trip to the NBA Finals. James scored 14 points in the second quarter as they took a 61-51 halftime lead.
They went ahead 72-56 early in the third quarter only to see Denver tie the game at 84 with 11 seconds left in the period. But James wouldn't allow Denver to get any closer. He scored 16 points in the final frame to lock down a 117-107 L.A. win and finished with 38 points on 15-of-25 shooting, 16 rebounds and 10 assists.
That put the Lakers just four wins away from their ultimate goal, which they accomplished by downing the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals in six games.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: LeBron James' greatest games with the Lakers: Putting away the Nuggets
