After amassing a 19-point lead against the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday, the Houston Rockets had an abysmal fourth quarter, only scoring 16 points to choke the game away. LeBron James and his Lakers emerged victorious in this one, with a final score of 111-106.

Following the disappointing defeat, Rockets point guard Chris Paul did not hold back in his criticism of his team and their terrible tendency to blow big leads:

“Man, it's getting uglier and uglier,” Paul said, via Rockets beat writer Jonathan Feigen. “I was talking to James about it. We got to be better. I'd be a lot more worried if we were just losing the whole game.”

Paul himself did his part for the Rockets on Thursday, coming out with arguably one of his best games in an injury-plagued season. The 33-year-old veteran put up 23 points on a very efficient 9-of-15 from the field. Paul also went 3-of-5 from distance and added 10 rebounds, nine assists, a steal, a block, and just a single turnover in 35 minutes of action.

However, it would ultimately come in a losing effort.

Paul went on to say that at this point in the season, the margin for error is getting smaller for the Rockets, and they will need to get things figured out sooner rather than later:

“We're running out of games to get it right, but we know what we're capable of,” he said.

While the Rockets are currently not looking like the same team that went all the way to Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals last season, they still are a serious contender in the West. Paul definitely understands this fact, and he will surely do everything in his power to make sure that his team is able to live up to its full potential as we enter the final stages of the regular season.