One could make the case that the Los Angeles Lakers' recent overtime losses to the Philadelphia 76ers (in Philly on Friday) and the Boston Celtics (at home on Tuesday) marked moral victories for Darvin Ham's 11-16 squad. In fact, I have made the case. LeBron James vehemently disagrees.
Both games had glaring similarities. Back in Los Angeles after a grueling six-game, two-week East Coast road trip, the Lakers overcame a sluggish start and somehow turned a 20-point third-quarter deficit into a 13-point fourth-quarter lead against the NBA's best team. Yet, they were unable to overcome a few missed free throws, poor shot selection, and fatigue, and ultimately gave the lead back and lost in overtime.
"It sucks, man. I'm so disappointed that we didn't close that out. But we'll get better from it." Darvin Ham on tonight's loss. pic.twitter.com/hTgwK4Lzzc
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) December 14, 2022
In Philadelphia, the Lakers stormed back from an 18-point fourth-quarter hole to send the game to overtime (free throws could have sealed the W in regulation), only to surrender 13 straight points to the Eastern Conference contender in the extra period.
In each contest, the Lakers started slow and fell behind by double digits, yet found resiliency, confidence, and self-belief — qualities that weren't associated with the 2021-22 Lakers. They've proven they can hang with elite teams.
“We gave ourselves a chance to win,” LeBron James said. “We didn't close it out. But loved our effort. I loved our tenacity in the second half and put ourselves in a position to win a ballgame playing against a great team.”
The soon-t0-be-38-year-old was clearly frustrated by the Lakers' defeat vs. Boston, in which he posted 33 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists in 43 minutes. He was more impatient and combative with reporters than usual, none more so than when he was asked if there were any encouraging, big-picture takeaways from his team's latest “almost win” (to quote the inquiring reporter).
“Nothing. That we lost.” LeBron quickly retorted. “You're talking to the wrong guy talking about ‘almost win.' No. We lost.”
The Lakers should feel emboldened by LeBron's terse response. As media savvy as LeBron is, he isn't always particularly adept at camouflaging his feelings. If he truly lacked faith in this year's squad, it would come through (see: his comments in February on the Lakers not having championship potential).
Instead, LeBron James is articulating his faith that these Lakers can beat the best teams in basketball. Their schedule is loaded with playoff-caliber squads for the next month. Time to close games out.
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