LeBron James Excites Fans as Lakers Survive Collapse vs. Jazz with 6th Seed at Stake

The Los Angeles Lakers control their postseason destiny—by the skin of their teeth.

Led by a strong performance from LeBron James, the Lakers beat the Utah Jazz 135-133 in overtime on Tuesday night, moving the team to the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference.

The Jazz refused to die in this one, using a late third-quarter and early fourth-quarter run to turn an 11-point halftime deficit into a two-point lead with 9:53 left. And while the Lakers regained control, taking a 10-point lead with just 1:43 remaining, the Jazz kept things nervy, shockingly tying the game with 11.1 seconds remaining.

James missed a potential game-winning layup as time expired, and the game went to overtime.

James made up for that miss, dominating overtime by scoring nine of the Lakers 11 points in the extra period to finish the night with 37 points, adding six assists and five rebounds.

And while the dramatic nature of the win had Lakers fans sweating, the victory still had them feeling good about the state of their team and thanking their lucky stars for LeBron:

This was a balanced performance overall from the Lakers—at least until overtime—with Anthony Davis (21 points, 14 rebounds, six assists), Dennis Schröder (18 points), Austin Reaves (28 points, six assists) and Rui Hachimura (17 points, six boards) also having solid nights.

Former Lakers wing Talen Horton-Tucker and Kelly Olynyk led the way for the Jazz (36-43) with 23 points each.

While the Lakers (41-38) have the same record as the Golden State Warriors, L.A. won the season series and thus earned the tiebreaker. That No. 6 seed is crucial, as it comes with an automatic playoff bid and would keep the Lakers out of the play-in tournament.

Up next for the Lakers is a crucial matchup with the Los Angeles Clippers (41-38) on Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN. Win that game and the Lakers would not only move up to the No. 5 seed but also exorcise some major demons against their rivals:

But a loss would essentially end any hopes of earning the No. 5 seed, as the Clippers already won the season series. It would also put the team's automatic playoff bid in jeopardy.

Wednesday is a huge night for these Lakers, in other words, all thanks to Tuesday's close call.