The Houston Rockets shut down the visitors with a 16-point blowout win. The Los Angeles Lakers stepped on the court with fatigue after the double-overtime win against the Dubs. LeBron James and his men didn’t stand a chance to turn the game around, as the home side carried the game with a massive lead since the first quarter. However, Lakers star D’Angelo Russell thought otherwise and blamed head coach Darvin Ham for the loss.

During the post-game press conference, one reporter asked D’Lo about the moment when he thought they could win the game. He said, “I think in the fourth quarter, around 7-8 minutes, one more push… I think that decision should be made… once again that’s, that’s on coach.” Since the home team maintained a 20-point odd lead throughout the game, Russell’s answer came out as a surprise. And as a direct jab at the coach.

The Lakers were completely off-color throughout the game. Apart from the 69 points scored with the combined efforts of Russell, LeBron James, and Anthony Davis, the visitors didn’t have anyone else, stepping up to make some noise. Eventually, the team went on to face a 135-119 loss.

While one may point out the fatigue as the reason behind the loss, Darvin Ham was also dragged into the picture. The Lakers came into the game after their hard-fought victory against the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center. James alone played around 48 minutes in the game and scored his career-high 20 rebounds.

At the same time, D’Lo called out Ham for not pulling the right strings at the end of the game to turn around the game. Notably, Ham has also been facing the brink of the fans’ frustration for the team’s hot and cold form this season.

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Let’s take a closer look at the heat that Ham has been facing because of his decision late in the game.

Darvin Ham’s blunder

Even though the Lakers had a 30-point deficit, they produced a 20-5 comeback to bring the game to 121-111 with four minutes left in the game. While the Lakers Nation had their hopes up for the massive comeback in the game, Ham pulled out James, AD, and the rest of the starters off the court.

Within a matter of seconds, the Rockets were back on top. Considering the Lakers’ fighting spirit in the Warriors game, they could have performed yet another miracle. But Ham thought otherwise.

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What do you make of D’Lo’s statement after the loss? Let us know in the comments below.