Charge outlast South Bay Lakers for second consecutive victory.

The Charge won their second straight over the Lakers thanks to a strong fourth quarter from Bates.

This wasn’t a pretty game for the Cleveland Charge, but they were able to pull out the 93-90 win over the South Bay Lakers thanks to a fourth-quarter comeback that was capped off with a step-back three from Cleveland Cavaliers’ guard Craig Porter Jr. and a go-ahead floater in the lane from Emoni Bates.

The Charge trailed throughout the majority of the game. South Bay never got their advantage above 10 but felt firmly in control until their offense completely stalled out in the final frame. The Lakers registered just 12 points in the fourth which included scoring just two in the final eight minutes.

Bates had a tough night through three and a half quarters. He opened the game by turning it over and then committed a loose ball foul right after it was poked away on the team’s third possession. That was followed up by two defensive lapses and two unnecessary fouls in his first five-minute stint.

It didn’t get much better from there as he sat out most of the second quarter after picking up his third personal and registered a technical the ensuing quarter after failing to score on an isolation drive that was outside the flow of the offense.

In short, Bates was playing into all of his worst stereotypes after playing into his best ones the night before.

“I thought to start the game, they allowed the Lakers’ physicality to kind of take them out of some of the things they were able to do last night,” said Charge head coach Chris Darnell said of Bates.

Bates completely turned it around down the stretch. He was instrumental in the Charge’s fourth-quarter comeback. He scored all six of his fourth-quarter points in the final four and a half minutes. This included a nice alley-oop feed to Feron Hunt, who led the Charge in scoring and rebounds with 18 and 12, which gave Cleveland their first lead of the fourth.

This was the response you wanted to see from Bates when things weren’t going his way.

“Emoni had some great looks from three and wasn’t able to knock them down, but he was able to find his way to the paint and get himself and others involved,” Darnell said.

The Lakers folded from there as Devonte’ Graham melted down after missing a layup with under 10 seconds left which resulted in a double technical and ejection that gave the Charge a three-point lead. The Lakers then failed to foul Porter on the ensuing inbound as he ran off the final seven seconds of the game.

Bates finished with 16 points on 5-15 shooting with 6 boards. Porter added in 14 points on 6-16 shooting with 8 rebounds and 7 helpers.

It was ugly, but the Charge did enough to grab a victory and start their regular season 2-0.

“It was a nasty game for really all four quarters,” Darnell said. “I don’t think either team really had a rhythm or shot it particularly well. But what I liked was that through the ups and downs, through us missing shots, turning the ball over, we continue to stay connected, continue to compete.”

The Lakers’ fourth-quarter collapse hides how good of a game Bronny James had. He led both teams in scoring with 23 on 7-14 shooting with 9 boards and 5 assists.

James’s incredible feel for the game allowed him to have an outsized impact compared to his raw athleticism. He levered every micro advantage into trips to the free-throw line or open threes for his teammates. The Lakers’ failure to get him involved in their closing possessions led to their undoing.

This was the second-straight night the Charge broke their previous attendance record with 5,322 at Cleveland Public Auditorium. The Charge head out for a four-game road trip that starts on Tuesday against the Greensboro Swarm. They will be back in Cleveland on Jan. 10.