Carmelo Anthony starred in one of the biggest moments of the night when the Los Angeles Lakers failed to get past city rivals Los Angeles Clippers at Crypto.com Arena. The Purple and Gold hoped to start this second half of the campaign with a win, but they keep struggling, especially against the Clippers.
LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony had the opportunity to tie the game, but their decisions weren’t the best. First, LeBron took 10 seconds off the clock while only dribbling the ball, only to pass it without making a move. He gave it to Carmelo, who tried a long 3-pointer with plenty of time on the clock, bricking it.
What was Carmelo thinking?
— NBA SKITS (@NBA_Skits) February 26, 2022
Both these plays were met with a lot of criticism, with fans calling out LeBron over that decision. Melo also received bad comments, but he wasn’t bothered by that. Following the game, the veteran player was asked about the play, and he stated that he would do the same any other day (1:21).
“I was just trying to get a look. Trying to get a good look. At that point, it was just a scramble. I don’t know how much time it was at that point. I think it was I still had probably two seconds or something like that, but it was just a matter of getting a good look, and I shot it short. My legs wasn’t underneath me, but it is what it is. I’ll take that same shot any night. My legs wasn’t underneath from me on that particular moment…”
He was confident he could make that shot, but his legs failed at the worst time. The Lakers were really close to sending the game to OT, but their decisions weren’t the best for the moment. With this defeat, they are now five games below the .500 mark, and nobody knows if they’ll be able to turn things around. This season has become a nightmare for the Lakers and there’s no clear answer for these issues.
