The Los Angeles Lakers' self-destruction tour continued on Wednesday, with a 139-130 overtime loss to the Houston Rockets being the latest lowlight in a season that has seen them win just one game.
"We messed around with the game and they had confidence throughout the night", said the Laker, who had one of his finest games as a Laker with 30 points on 11-of-22 shooting (7-of-8 on free throws), eight rebound, six assists and just one turnover.
The lack of defensive urgency in L.A. allowed Houston to start rolling.
In the first and second quarters, we gave up a lot of points. Guys who are shooting who are not normally making 3s will make them.
Did they ever make them in overtime? The team that started the extra session shooting 7-for-8 from the field, including 5-for-5 from 3, was the Rockets.
Lakers forward Carmelo Anthony said that they caught fire.
The outcome was all but decided when L.A.'s Malik Monk hit a 3 with 25.7 seconds left in overtime. Green said going after Anthony was crucial to his success.
The game plan was to attack Melo and find a mismatch on the floor.
The Lakers had a chance to avoid overtime when James drove the left wing with the score tied 120-120 and the final seconds on the clock, but his pass out to Anthony resulted in a jump shot that missed at the buzzer.
James, who had 23 points, 14 rebound and 12 assists for his fifth triple-double of the season, shot just 9-for-26 overall and 1-for-9 from 3 with five turnovers. I could have gotten a decent look, but I feel like my look was better than that of Melo.
Anthony said that he sawBron going to the basket. I wanted to get in his eyes. I thought he had a layup, but after watching the replay on the bench, he was off-balance.
The Lakers lost for the sixth time in seven games against a Houston team that came into the night with the worst record in the league. The win over L.A. did not change the fact that the Rockets are still under.500.
They are going to compete, they are playing the Lakers, regardless of their record. It is a thing for them.
The inability to close out tight games has been haunting the Lakers. With Anthony Davis out with a foot injury, James said it's up to L.A.
Anthony said that it was a play there. It is right there for us to get over this hump.
James agreed with Anthony that the near-misses are starting to have a cumulative effect on the team.
He said that it definitely plays a part and starts to enter your mind.
James was 3-for-12 in the fourth quarter and overtime.
He said he didn't feel like he took any bad shots.
James was playing for the first time since his 56-point effort in a win over the Golden State Warriors, and Lakers coach Frank Vogel supported him.
He is giving us everything he has.
New Orleans, Portland and San Antonio all lost on Wednesday, so L.A. maintained its position in the Western Conference.
If his knee feels good enough, James said the season will not have any bearing on how he approaches the final 17 games.
James said he would be in uniform no matter what. It is dependent on how the knee feels. My love for the game and the way I play it has nothing to do with records and things of that nature. That is not me.
While James made a personal vow to play, he said he would take it upon himself to build a team.
There is a lot going on with us as a team, and it is easy to spread out.
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