LeBron James had a “easy” rationalization as to why he handed up a layup to dish the rock to Carmelo Anthony, who missed a game-winning, jumper within the Lakers’ 139-130 loss to the Rockets in extra time on Wednesday.
“I ended up behind the backboard,” James stated, noting that he thought he had an angle on the drive earlier than Houston’s David Nwaba entered his path.
“I used to be a bit of bit off-balance and I may have compelled a reverse layup, however I wasn’t within the place to really feel like I may have gotten an important look. I may have gotten an honest look and I really feel like Melo’s look was rather a lot higher than mine.”
The Lakers had a main alternative to ship the worst-in-the-West Rockets residence when James drove to the basket within the remaining seconds with the rating tied, 120-120. As an alternative, Anthony bought the late move on the wing, and pump-faked to get his footing, however missed the shot on the buzzer.
Though James recorded a triple-double to go along with Russell Westbrook’s 30 factors and Malik Monk’s 20-point effort, it wasn’t sufficient to beat the Rockets, who dominated the extra time interval.
Westbrook, in the meantime, had his greatest recreation of the yr amid his months-long offensives struggles. Nevertheless it’s the Lakers’ protection that’s largely responsible for the upset in Houston — LA’s ninth-straight highway loss.
James additionally added 5 turnovers to his fifth triple-double efficiency of the season.
The struggling Lakers have now misplaced six of their final seven, except a win over the Warriors final Saturday, when James dropped season-high 56 factors.
The ninth-seeded Lakers (28-37) would make the play-in match if the playoffs started Thursday.
The play-in match begins on April 12. If a crew is a ninth or tenth seed, they need to win twice to get out of the play-in spherical, which concludes on April 15.
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