LeBron James’ one-man display, aided by ridiculous decision-making from the Grizzlies, pushed the Lakers up 3-1

LOS ANGELES – Dillon Brooks isn’t wrong, but being right hardly matters in a court of law, let alone on a basketball court.

LeBron James is not the same player he was in Cleveland or in his heyday in Miami. No longer being able to dominate a 48-minute match, there are more signs of physical slippage that confirm he is already 38 years old.

But this version is still good enough in the lunges, in those moments where he can tap his greatness against his body and hope the former wins – and he’ll pay the price another day.

That day probably won’t happen anytime soon, as he pushed himself and the Lakers to a 3-1 lead in the first round with a 117-111 win over the Memphis Grizzlies after 53 minutes of grueling playoff basketball.

If Brooks had stopped in the post-game to comment, he might have given his game rating to James 20-20, adding to his impressive playoff belief. He had a front row seat to James’ last bucket, and Brooks couldn’t get the angle right in overtime as James ducked and ducked into the crowd as the victory was secured.

“You know how momentum plays are done,” said James. “I was part of the moments where you know you can kind of have a dagger game or a killer shot. And I felt that play there, after I could do that f-1, I wouldn’t say I closed the door, but it closed it. There wasn’t a lot of The light is at the end of the game. I was just letting the feelings out.”

As for Brooks, he and Ja Morant left L.A. without speaking to reporters and without a win, and moved back to Memphis where the only thing they have to hold on to is hope.

Because they couldn’t hold on as much as James grabbed a career-high 20 rebounds, sending the game into overtime with throws past Xavier Tillman Sr. and into the outstretched arms of Garen Jackson Jr.

James called it part of the “Tier 3” layup packages he’s been working on, then referred to a shot he made in the Finals on Kevin Durant during one of the Cavs-Warriors’ tilts that looks like it was last year.

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There were long periods where he relied too much on deep shots, going 1 for 7 from 3. Fortunately for him, he didn’t force the action too much – he just happened to be in the right place at the right time, timing his bursts of energy at critical turns.

When Morant did his first stunt near the edge, James put his body on the line to charge. Then later, when Morant was auditioning for the Olympics in the track and field category, 100-meter hurdles, James would again push those old bones into Morant’s way as Morant looked upside down in midair.

“Whatever it takes for a team to be successful and I just try to be as great as I can be offensively,” said James. “But more importantly on the defensive side. That was kind of the mentality tonight. And I was able to put in some plays for our success.”

It was this kind of ridiculous decision-making by the Grizzlies that put them in this position, one game away from elimination. The Grizzlies were 9-of-42-of-3, and found it difficult to muster a consistent offense early and late after the Lakers began to tighten up.

Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins believed his team had the right personality and confidence going into Game 4, knowing full well a win would put the home field advantage back in their direction with two games in the building.

And for most of the night, they seemed poised to take on the challenge, bracing themselves after another early deficit to come within two in the half. Anthony Davis fell hard twice on his hip and looked worse than his wear as the night went on, and he was nowhere near the all-around power he was in Game 3, but he finished 4 blocks to go with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

The opportunity was there, and before James’ layup, Jackson Jr. hit Roy Hachimura over the edge and Bunny scored on a layup with 6.7 seconds left to put the Grizzlies ahead by two runs.

Bane recovered from his shaky Game 3 to put the Grizzlies ahead and just moments away from tying the chain. The triple with 5:12 from the left gave him 30 points (36 total) and the Grizzlies put up seven points.

Normally, this is where James would take over, bending the game to his will. But the Grizzlies opened the door for D’Angelo Russell, who found Jackson Jr. turning on him. Defensive Player of the Year feinted hard on Austin Reeves, then Russell caught daylight for his first consecutive triple-double.

To this point, the Lakers may also have been gasping for air – including James, as his jumpers were falling short. But he grabbed nine of those rebounds in the fourth, including four on offense.

He calls it winning, despondency, or realizing how fleeting these moments are for him, but he catches it one night calling someone to cash in on everything the Grizzlies leave on Earth.

If the Grizzlies were a little healthier, and certainly more mature, they might have a better say in the series. Being without Stephen Adams and Brandon Clarke is no small feat, but Tillman would have been better served in their stead – perhaps a little better given the work he’s done defending James.

But like last season, they still haven’t taken chances empty in front of their faces. They could easily be in the same place if they played Golden State in the first round, so it’s not just a bad tie.

The Warriors have Stephen Curry inspiring the game and playing it James-style. And there is no doubt that they will all be embroiled in a war of words with Draymond Green – the man who occupies a lot of real estate both in the league office and in Memphis, and might as well pay the rent.

But here, James is the man they have to deal with and they helped work himself into a classic night when he said it all in the first 48 minutes that it was going to be one of those stressful, costly “good job, good effort” nights out of him.

With games every day and traveling a great distance, the Lakers should have won as much as the Grizzlies. The longer this series went on, the tougher it got for the likes of Davis and even James, who had to call a late timeout in overtime because he was “gassed” for 45 minutes.

The Grizzlies may not be mourning their big talk when this is all over, but they will leave LA knowing they let one of their own get away, knowing that they were an unwilling co-star on LeBron James’ solo show.