Lakers' LeBron James Explains Passing on Potential Game-Winning Layup vs. Rockets

The bottom continues to drop out for the Los Angeles Lakers, with their latest low point coming Wednesday night in a 139-130 overtime loss to the Houston Rockets.

LeBron James had a chance to win the game on a drive to the basket as time expired in regulation but instead passed the ball out to Carmelo Anthony.

Anthony's jumper from 22 feet hit the back side of the rim to keep the score tied at 120. 

"On the drive, I had an angle, for sure. And then David Nwaba came over. And I took a lone one-two step and ended up behind the backboard," James told reporters about passing on the layup after the game. "I was a little bit off-balance. And I could've forced a reverse layup, but I wasn't in the position to feel like I could have gotten a great look. I could have got a decent look, and I feel like Melo's look was a lot better than mine. So, it's literally that simple."

It certainly wasn't an easy look for James. He was able to get around Eric Gordon, but David Nwaba was in a perfect position to cut off a direct lane to the basket.

At the time James made the pass to Anthony, his body was underneath the backboard. It wasn't a high-percentage shot for Anthony to take either, as he was also rushed because Kenyon Martin Jr. did a good job closing out to force him to take an extra step before getting into his shooting motion.

The Lakers completely ran out of steam in overtime. The Rockets scored the first 13 points of the extra period to take a 133-120 lead en route to winning for the second time in three games after losing 12 straight from Feb. 4 to March 4.

James did finish with a triple-double of 23 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists with four blocks, but he also committed five turnovers and shot just 9-of-26 from the field (1-of-9 from three-point range).

Tuesday's loss also continues a downward trend for the Lakers that has been going on for nearly two months.

Since a Jan. 25 win over the Brooklyn Nets moved them back to .500 at 24-24, the Lakers have lost 13 of their last 17 games.

Los Angeles is a season-high nine games under .500 (28-37) and is just 1.5 games ahead of the New Orleans Pelicans, the current 10th seed in the Western Conference.