LeBron James missed back-to-back 3-point attempts that would've likely forced overtime as the Charlotte Hornets escaped with a 100-97 road win over the Los Angeles Lakers Wednesday.
James, who started after missing Sunday's All-Star Game due to left ankle and foot discomfort, had a deep but clear look off an inbound pass from Luka Doncic with five seconds remaining, but his shot clanked off the front of the rim. An offensive rebound by Gabe Vincent allowed James to get off another attempt over a sprawling Miles Bridges. However, that shot also came up short as the buzzer sounded.
The loss is the Lakers' second straight against a team sitting second-last in its conference after falling 131-119 on the road to the Utah Jazz on Feb. 12 in their final matchup before the All-Star break.
"Overall, we played 39-44 minutes of pretty poor offense," head coach JJ Redick said about Wednesday's loss, according to Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles upgraded James' status to available about two hours prior to tipoff after listing him as questionable earlier in the day. He finished with 26 points, 11 assists, seven rebounds, two blocks, and a steal in 38 minutes. He shot 10-of-22 from the floor but 4-of-11 from three.
Bridges led Charlotte with 29 points and five steals to go with six rebounds. LaMelo Ball added 27 points, including the game-sealing layup that gave the Hornets a four-point lead with 14 seconds left.
The 40-year-old James played in the Lakers' final two games leading into the break but unexpectedly announced ahead of Sunday's All-Star Game that he wouldn't participate in order to rest.
"With 30 games left and us trying to make a push in the wild, wild West, I feel like it is very important for me to kind of take care of myself and understand what's coming on," he said Sunday.
James entered Wednesday averaging 24.3 points, 9.0 assists, and 7.7 rebounds with 51.6/39.5/75.9 shooting splits. In his record 22nd NBA season, he's made 49 starts for L.A. and missed just four contests.
Los Angeles also lifted Luka Doncic's minutes restriction Wednesday, allowing him to play a more customary 33 minutes. He averaged nearly 36 minutes this season with the Dallas Mavericks, but the Lakers held him to just over 23 in each of his first two contests with the club after he missed nearly seven weeks with a calf strain.
The Slovenian star finished two assists shy of a 14-point triple-double Wednesday but was 1-of-9 from distance and committed six turnovers - five in the first quarter.
