Lakers News: How LeBron James Recovered From Errant Pass To Seal A W

Last night, your Los Angeles Lakers survived a wild and woolly closing stretch of basketball at Crypto.com Arena, where they were hosting the Washington Wizards.

In the closing seconds of regulation, with the game tied up at 117-117, LeBron James dribbled the ball up the floor slowly, clearly looking to make the proper pass.

He spotted his target: center Thomas Bryant, starting in the stead of Anthony Davis, stationed right beneath the basket. James tried to dish a between-the-legs bounce-pass to Bryant that could evade his defender, old pal Kyle Kuzma.

But he botched it, and the ball ricocheted off Kuzma's legs without going through them. Kuzma dove for the ball and initially recovered it, before James picked it off and reset.

He then made the pass he had been trying to pull off before, albeit without any legs getting in his way. Bryant flushed an easy slam and put the Lakers up 119-117 with seven seconds left in regulation. The Wizards failed to respond as time expired, and the Lakers recorded the win.

"Sometimes it's better to be lucky." @KingJames with @LakersReporter on the last play that sealed the win for the #Lakers. pic.twitter.com/PeE5LFhCq1
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) December 19, 2022

"Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good," James told Spectrum SportsNet's Mike Trudell. "I made the right read, I just was a little off on my pass. It kinda hit Kuz's shin, and I just couldn't let that ball get away from me, that turnover right there, at that point in time. So, [I was] able to hustle for it and still keep my eyes up and TB and get a dunk to win the game."

James had been counting on the Wizards' defenders to trap him when he reached the top of key, thus leaving Bryant wide open down low.

"I said it in the huddle, I said, 'They're gonna trap me, so make y'all selves available. Be patient 'cause we want the last shot. We still want the last shot or as close to the last shot [as possible],' 'cause they had no more timeouts. They did exactly what I thought. I gotta do a better job of pinpointing that pass but I was able to recover."

It would be James's ninth assist on the night. He also chipped in 33 points on 13-of-24 shooting and seven dimes, and became the only player aged 37 or older -- aside from you know who -- to ever score 30+ points in four straight games.