Having lost eight of 10 games, the Los Angeles Lakers entered Wednesday’s game in a cold stretch. But going against the Houston Rockets — who have the NBA’s worst record — Wednesday night seemed like a golden opportunity for the Lakers to right the ship. It didn’t work out that way.
The Lakers had a chance to win in the final seconds of regulation, but Carmelo Anthony missed a buzzer-beater attempt, sending the game into overtime. There, the Rockets put the Lakers away, outscoring them 19-10 to win the game 139-130.
If you’re a Rockets fan, it was a great night. Not only did you see your team defeat the Lakers but you saw two rookies — Jalen Green and Alperen Şengün — have the best games of their young careers.
For the Lakers, it was another rough night. NBA fans showed how unimpressed they were by the Los Angeles effort during and after the game.
Rockets-Lakers has a grim “Celebrity Boxing” oddity energy to it.
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) March 10, 2022
https://twitter.com/NBAMemes/status/1501744062897876992
Every Lakers game is either a blowout or just completely stupid
— Jason Patt (@Bulls_Jay) March 10, 2022
Lakers can't get eliminated in the first round if they don't make the playoffs: https://t.co/XsJkI7LvZg pic.twitter.com/AaKWqr8mW6
— Frank Ojeda (@UCLADodgerFrank) March 10, 2022
I’m not going to call names but wow do the Lakers suck.
— Cousin Sal (@TheCousinSal) March 10, 2022
It was also a mixed game LeBron James. LeBron did have 23 points, 14 rebounds, and 12 assists. His 16 triple-doubles since turning 35 are now twice as many as any player in NBA history.
That’s the good news. The bad news for LeBron is that he wasn’t efficient. He shot 9-for-26 from the field and 1-for-9 on threes. Even the one made three-pointer didn’t amount to much more than a garbage-time shot, as it came late in overtime and cut the Lakers deficit from 11 to eight.
He also passed on a potential game-winner at the end of regulation, opting to kick the ball out to Anthony.
He also had some rough moments on defense.
Much like his team’s, LeBron’s performance came under heavy fire.
LeBron doesn’t take the shot at the rim at the end of regulation and now they’re down 13 in OT
— Jason Jones (@mr_jasonjones) March 10, 2022
https://twitter.com/casualtakeking/status/1501767966664261634
The Lakers are still in position to make a play-in game. But if they want to maintain that position and go on any sort of run if they do make it, things are going to need to get a lot better and fast.