“A bet is not official until you look a man in the eye, so I had to look him in the eye and I was able to win.”
To the delight of his teammates and James, who was still not facing the basket, the shot came in, causing the Lakers to break out in celebration.
While his repertoire of extraordinary abilities is wide and varied, tri-clues without appearance were not a regularity for James.
So, after astonishing his teammates on Tuesday with his feat, James paid tribute to Steph Curry, one of the NBA’s greatest shooters and someone who made the photos look more mundane.
“Because 10 times out of nine, it happens to Steph.”
The ridiculous, without three glances, was the culmination of the Lakers’ dominant 117-100 victory over the Rockets.
Behind James ’26 points and Antony Davis’ 19 points, the current NBA champions have improved their record to the best 9-3 in the league and are now undefeated on the road.
“This situation is crazy”
For the Rockets, it was a turbulent start to the 2020-21 season.
After Tuesday’s explosive defeat – in which the Rockets followed the Lakers by up to 30 points in some stages – Harden called the team’s situation “crazy”.
Despite the additions of veterans such as John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins, the normal missile offense has kept it bombed this year.
And this is symbolized by Harden’s own struggles. The 31-year-old has won the NBA title in the last three seasons, but failed to score more than 20 points in four straight games, his longest run since 2012.
“We’re not even close, honestly, to that team – obviously the defending champions – and all the other elite teams out there,” Harden said. “You can tell the difference in these two games.
“Obviously, the chemistry, the talent, everything, and it was clear, as I said these last few games. From the beginning of the game, they were just an aggressive, veteran team, obviously a championship team and one of the best teams on which we have in this league. “
I’m missing one star, leaning on another
With Kyrie Irving missing for the fourth game in a row for personal reasons, the Brooklyn Nets had to rely on another superstar to help them get out of a hole Tuesday night.
The Nets, led by Kevin Durant’s 34 points, 13 assists and 9 rebounds, rallied from an 18-point deficit in the second half to defeat the Denver Nuggets 122-116 on Tuesday night.
During the game, Durant overtook Elgin Baylor, Dwyane Wade and Adrian Dantley on the all-time scoring list and finished 28th of all time.
In Irving’s absence, Nets CEO Sean Marks said the organization was “aware of a video on social media with Kyrie Irving at a family reunion.”
“We are reviewing circumstances with both Kyrie and the NBA to determine compliance with health and safety protocols,” Marks said. “Kyrie stays away from the team for personal reasons.
“Once her return has not yet been completed. In the meantime, we will continue to focus on our organizational goals. Kyrie will have the opportunity to address her absence when she is ready to do so.”
Irving hasn’t commented publicly yet.
More delayed games
Meanwhile, there have been six NBA games postponed this season, due to the league’s health and safety protocols.
For the third time in less than a week, the Boston Celtics had a game postponed due to Covid-19 problems.
The home game scheduled for Wednesday at TD Garden vs. Orlando Magic was canceled after the league said in a statement that testing and tracking contacts within the Celtics left the team out of the eight available NBA players needed for the court.
It was also announced that the Utah Jazz vs. The Washington Wizards on Wednesday was postponed because the Wizards would not have eight players mandated by the league. It means five games were canceled on Sunday.