LeBron James Wants No Part Of Moral Victory In Lakers’ Loss To Celtics

The Lakers have taken the Philadelphia 76ers and the Celtics into overtime in two of their last three games, but LeBron James is more focused on the face his team has lost four of their last five games.

Los Angeles went on a 31-5 run late in the third quarter to potentially hand Boston its third-straight loss. But Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown led the C’s late in the fourth quarter and into overtime to beat the Lakers.

It’s another tough loss for Darvin Ham’s team, but Los Angeles has come close to beating the top crop of contenders in the league. However, that fact is not something James wanted to hear about after Tuesday night’s loss.

“Nothing. That we lost,” James told reporters, per Spectrum SportsNet video. “You’re talking to the wrong guy, talking about ‘almost win.’ We lost.”

The Lakers are 11-16 after their loss to Boston, and they sit at 12th in the Western Conference. Los Angeles hopes the trade market, which unofficially begins Thursday, can help it sneak into the playoff picture, but it needs to show it can win close games, especially after Anthony Davis missed two key free throws in overtime.

“It’s case by case,” James said. “That team over there has played in more crunch minutes than we have as a unit. They know exactly what they want to do down the stretch. They know exactly how they want to execute. They don’t linger. That’s exactly what it is. We’re still learning. It’s a game-to-game basis for us. We’re learning how we want to play.”

The schedule for the Lakers will continue to be a tough one as they take on the Denver Nuggets on Friday.