(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Heading into the 2023-24 NBA regular season, the Los Angeles Lakers were thought to be a legitimate title contender in the Western Conference, with the team being arguably the deepest in the league because of all the moves made over the summer to keep key players and add to an already talented roster.
Unfortunately, the storied franchise has had a rocky start to the 2023-24 campaign, as things haven’t gone their way up to this point, with the team dealing with some on-court issues and numerous injuries.
On Monday night, the Lakers continued their road trip with the team taking on the defending Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat.
With the Lakers shorthanded and the Heat not looking like the dominant team that cruised to the NBA Finals last season, this game was thought to be competitive and could potentially go down to the wire.
After a lot of back and forth throughout the game, it did come down to the wire, with LeBron James having the ball in his hands for the final play with the team down one point.
James drove it down the lane and drew two defenders, leaving Cam Reddish wide open in the corner, which resulted in the four-time NBA champion hitting the Lakers newcomer for the wide-open shot that he missed as time expired.
Even though the play call and James passing rather than trying to score has come with much criticism, Austin Reaves defended both of his teammates after the game after witnessing James talk to Reddish in the locker room, via Lakers Daily.
Austin Reaves on LeBron passing to Cam Reddish for the last shot: “As soon as [LeBron] walked into the locker room, he went to Cam and said, ‘Nah, that’s a good shot. Situation happens like that again, we’re gonna give it right back to you and knock it down.’ That’s major,…
— Lakers Daily (@LakersDailyCom) November 7, 2023
The loss to the Heat turned out to be the fourth of the season for the Lakers, as the team has been inconsistent to start the season, but they hopes to get on track on Wednesday.
James and company will fly to Texas to take on the Houston Rockets in what could be another tough game for Los Angeles.
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