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LeBron James and the LA Lakers lost 113-112 to the Philadelphia 76ers after Russell Westbrook failed to launch a decent shot at the buzzer. "Russ" inexplicably refused to call a timeout after Joel Embiid's missed jumper with 15.5 seconds left.
Westbrook grabbed the rebound after Embiid's miss and kept the ball to himself for the game's last play. James stood on top of the three-point line on the weak side, passively waiting for whatever Westbrook decided to do with the ball.
After the game, Skip Bayless pounced on what happened during the Lakers' last sequence of the game:
“COME ON, LEBRON, GO GET THE BALL FROM RUSS AND YOU MAKE SOMETHING HAPPEN DOWN ONE WITH THE CLOCK TICKING DOWN. RUSS DROVE ON EMBIID AND ... I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT HE WAS TRYING TO DO ... 2-HAND PASS IT? SHOOT IT? DUNK IT? THAT WAS YOUR SHOT TO TAKE, LEBRON.”
LeBron James was probably waiting for Russell Westbrook to swing the ball to the other side. Instead, the point guard took it straight to Joel Embiid as the clock winded down. It looked like Westbrook passed the ball to Troy Brown Jr. in the opposite corner, but it was blocked by the rim.
Standing behind the three-point line, James and Dennis Schroder walked away in frustration after Embiid got the loose ball.
In a postgame interview in the locker room, Westbrook had this to say to the media about the last play of the game:
“I couldn’t get my hand up to shoot because he [Embiid] was grabbing it.”
Westbrook played well on Monday before that head-scratching late-game failed heroics. He continues to be one of the NBA's best coming off the bench. Against the 76ers, he played 34 minutes and finished with 20 points, 14 rebounds, 11 assists and a steal.
LeBron James was also exceptional. He had 16 points in the first quarter, 22 by halftime and 31 after three quarters. James, however, could only add four points to his tally in the pivotal period.
Skip Bayless highlighted LeBron James' three-point shooting woes
For most of the season, Skip Bayless has been calling out LeBron James for his erratic three-point shooting. He's called the four-time MVP "LeBrick" on numerous occasions as the Lakers superstar has struggled mightily from deep.
When the Crypto.com Arena crowd gave "King James" a standing ovation for reaching 38,000 points, the Fox Sports analyst quickly tweeted:
“Does anyone out there care that the same LeBron James who's on the doorstep of becoming the NBA's all-time leading scorer is last in the NBA in 3-point shooting percentage?”
Russell Westbrook, who Bayless regularly calls "Westbrick," is hitting 29.3% from behind the arc. On the other hand, LeBron James is making just 28.5% of his three-point shots, the lowest in his career. It's also the worst mark in the league by players averaging at least five attempts per game.
Against the Philadelphia 76ers, "King James" was 15-23 from the field but made only one of his five three-pointers.
As a 38-year-old veteran, James has been in sizzling form, averaging a mind-boggling 35.2 points in six games. His three-point shot, however, has all but deserted him. He is making a nightmarish 20.6% of long-distance shots on 5.7 attempts per contest.
