Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals was just the Los Angeles Lakers' second game in 11 days, yet LeBron James and co. were significantly outpaced by the Houston Rockets two days after closing out Game 7 against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

James shouldered the blame for the 112-97 loss—particularly his four turnovers.

James had 20 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists in 37 minutes in Game 1, and the Lakers lost the turnover battle, 15-14. More significantly, James was scoreless in the fourth quarter where Houston outscored Los Angeles, 27-18.

James and his teams have repeatedly been able to flip the switch mid-series—most recently evidenced by the Lakers' five-game Round 1 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers. After dropping Game 1, the Lakers stormed back to win the next four contests.

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In his postgame comments on Friday, James compared the small-ball Rockets to the explosive “Greatest Show on Turf” St. Louis Rams teams from the turn of the century who made two Super Bowls and won Super Bowl XXXIV in 2000.

Lakers head coach Frank Vogel spun the narrative about rest but refused to use his own theory as an excuse for the Lakers' disappointing performance.

“The Game 7 versus a team with rest — I've always felt that the team that played a Game 7 has a slight advantage,” Vogel said. “But you can't look at that as any type of excuse. We're not an excuse team. We've got to come out and compete to win a game. This one's behind us. We lost it. Got to move on to Game 2.”

Game 2 will be on Sunday.