It seemed like the Lakers were on the verge of completing a thrilling comeback, but the final moments of the game slipped away, leaving them short-handed in their bid for a win.
Sensing the danger, James immediately motioned for a timeout before the ball was played, hoping to stop the clock and regroup his team. However, the referees missed his call, and the game continued.
While the missed timeout certainly added to the frustration, the Lakers‘ larger issue came down to a botched inbound play in the final seconds, which sealed the victory for the Rockets.
“Absolutely. That’s why I called the timeout because I saw it go wrong,” James explained. “They played it good, stayed on top of everything. I saw Fred shoot a guy on top of me and I called timeout when Max definitely still had the ball in his hands. It wasn’t rewarded but that happens, you don’t lose a game because of that.”
Earlier in the game, the Lakers found themselves in a 22-point deficit during the first half. However, a remarkable second-half resurgence led by LeBron James, who scored 21 points in the period, brought the Lakers back into the game.
