“When it rains, it pours for a year” says LeBron James as h
is last-ditch 3-pointer found nothing but …
“When it rains, it pours for a year” says LeBron James as his last-ditch 3-pointer found nothing but …
LOS ANGLES — LeBron James’ last-ditch 3-pointer found nothing but air, and the Lakers’ postseason hopes continued to vanish with Friday night’s 114-111 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans
“The big picture is that it pretty much was a must-win for us, and we didn’t get the job done,” said James. “We had great opportunities throughout the night, and we didn’t make enough plays down the stretch. So that’s the big picture.”
L.A. faced a crucial matchup against the Western Conference’s No. 9 team in New Orleans, two games up on the No. 11 Lakers coming into the night. The Lakers received a welcome lift from James, who returned from a left ankle sprain that cost him two games, and Anthony Davis, who was back in the lineup after an 18-game absence because of a right midfoot sprain.
The pair was productive with James (38 points on 13-for-23 shooting) leading all scorers as he topped 35 points for his fifth straight game and Davis (23 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists) making his presence felt on both sides of the floor. But things fell apart in the fourth quarter.
“When it rains, it pours for a year” says LeBron James as his last-ditch 3-pointer found nothing but …
The Lakers led by five with 5:07 remaining in the fourth quarter, and the Pelicans reeled off a 13-4 run over the next three minutes of the game.
The last five minutes of the fourth were nightmarish. Davis went 0-for-3 from the field and 0-for-2 from the foul line; James went 0-for-3 from the field — including the airball after using three fakes to try to free up space — with a turnover; Russell Westbrook, missed two shots at the rim and fouled out.
“Just feels like you can’t catch a break,” James said. “No matter what’s going on on the floor, it just feels like the ball bounces the other way. The ball doesn’t always bounce in our favor. Or a call doesn’t go in our favor. It’s just like, when it rains, it pours for our year. It’s just the way it’s been going.”
L.A. now trails the No. 10 San Antonio Spurs by a game with five games left to play. But by virtue of the Spurs holding the tiebreaker, the Lakers have to pick-up two games on San Antonio before the season’s end to steal the final play-in spot. They’ll have to do it with a schedule that includes two games against Denver, one against Phoenix, one against Golden State and one against Oklahoma City.
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“I don’t look at San Antonio at all,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said of the final stretch. “I mean, obviously, finding out what their scores look like. But our focus is going to be on what we can control and that’s winning the next game.”
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