The Los Angeles Lakers have been the biggest disappointment in the NBA this season. LeBron James and Los Angeles now just lost to the Houston Rockets, who have the second-worst record in the NBA.

It was a total collapse, as the Lakers struggled immensely in overtime. James had a potential game-winning layup opportunity but decided to kick it out to Carmelo Anthony, who missed a jump shot, sending the game to overtime.

In overtime, the Rockets dominated from start to finish. They went on a 10-0 run to start the period, which was too big of a hole for the Lakers to climb out of.

Los Angeles came into the season with championship aspirations but now sit in 9th place in the Western Conference and are nine games below .500.

The roster construction looked promising at the start of the season with the Big Three of LeBron, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook. They surrounded these three stars with veteran players like Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, and others. Anthony has been a positive for the Lakers, but their other role players have struggled. The few young guys have been bright spots, including Malik Monk, Austin Reaves, and Stanley Johnson. Talen Horton-Tucker has also played well in spurts but still has much to develop in his game.

Unfortunately, the roster as a whole has not meshed together and has missed time with injuries.

Their defensive anchor in Davis is currently out with a right foot injury. While the roster wasn't built to be a defensive team, their effort and intensity have been horrendous.

Lakers legend James Worthy commented on this per the report of Silver Screen and Roll.

“They're not dead on arrival, but they just don't have that tenacity, they don't have that will to work their way out of this, even to get to the play-in game… You would think they might be able to, with a healthy team, but it doesn't seem like they believe in anything that they're doing.”

Lakers Final Stretch

If Frank Vogel's group has any chance of turning the season around, the team will need to show tenacity. Los Angeles has hit multiple rock bottoms this season, but none will be lower than this.

A team with this much talent should not fall to a rebuilding team in the Rockets.

There is not much time left in the season, and the Lakers need to get on a roll now, or it's over. It won't be easy as they have the hardest remaining schedule in the NBA.

They take on the Washington Wizards on Friday, who are fighting for a play-in spot. Although Washington is without their star Bradley Beal for the year, they can't be taken lightly. Unlike the Lakers, the Wizards will likely play hard throughout the game. Former Lakers Kyle Kuzma and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope are ready for this game.

They both have no hard feelings towards the Lakers and saw the trade as an opportunity to grow.

While Kuzma and Caldwell-Pope have no hard feelings, they will undoubtedly go out and give the Lakers their best. The Lakers will also have to deal with talented big man Kristaps Porzingis, who was traded to Washington at the deadline. With not a ton of depth at center, this will be a challenging task for Vogel's group to deal with. LeBron has been starting at center with Davis out, with Dwight Howard getting spot starts based on matchups. It will be interesting to see what Vogel's rotation is like as the Lakers try to salvage the season.

The Lakers still have the talent to win it all but will need to play hard down the stretch. It looks bleak, but you can never count a LeBron-led team out.