LeBron James 'deals with business' to make more history as Lakers keep Nuggets series alive

The Los Angeles Lakers were handed a lifeline in the NBA Playoffs by LeBron James , who by his own admission "dealt with business" in Game 4.

The Lakers entered Saturday's game knowing that a loss would lead to a second consecutive sweep in the postseason by the hands of the Denver Nuggets , although last year they were dominated in the Western Conference finals and not the first round. But a 30-point game from James helped the Lakers to a 119-108 win as they finally held onto a lead.

Los Angeles had been leading in all three games before collapsing in the second half on each occasion. "Fourth quarter, I understand that that's close-out time. We haven't been able to do that versus this team," James said. "Tonight I had an opportunity to do that and I wanted to deliver to our team."

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James is aware that the Lakers now must win the remaining three games in the series - something never successfully done in NBA history - to progress. So, he added: "Dealt with business (tonight)... As long as you have life, then you always have belief." The 39-year-old also joined an elite list during the win, adding to his sizeable legacy.

James, who already leads the NBA in 30-point postseason games (120), became the fourth player in history to score 30+ in a playoff game aged 39 or older. The Lakers veteran joined Reggie Miller, Karl Malone, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in reaching that total at such an age.

Nikola Jokic went stride-for-stride with James, recording a triple-double on the night with 34 points, 14 rebounds and assists. Both Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. hit 20+ points for the Nuggets, but the Lakers had four players reach the 20-point mark.

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Anthony Davis, Austin Reaves, and D'Angelo Russell all assisted in a solid team effort, with Davis in particular impressing with 23 rebounds. The game wasn't without some controversy though, as James lost his cool with head coach Darvin Ham.

James was seen shouting at Ham from the court after he refused to challenge a call in the fourth quarter, after he poked the ball from Denver’s Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. James was convinced it touched Caldwell-Pope before going out of bounds, but Ham didn't listen to the veteran and they ran out of time to challenge.

Ham brushed off any reports of a falling out after the game though, focusing on their win in Game 4 and looking ahead to facing the Nuggets in Denver. "It's a beautiful thing to finally get a win against this team," said the Lakers head coach.

"Now that we've finally quote-on-quote ''cracked the code' we still have to understand that this is a championship ball club we're facing. We're about to go to their house…now we have to take it up even more notches."