The Cleveland Cavaliers lost the Houston Rockets in a 105-103 overtime thriller on Sunday, but LeBron James had a chance to win the game if he made two free throws with four seconds left. Instead, he missed them both, which caused him to place blame for the loss on himself:
"I didn't come through for my teammates tonight," James said. "I tricked the game off at the free throw line. Guys put us in position to win the game and I didn't come through for them, so it won’t happen again."
James also made several posts on social media Sunday night further blaming himself, but his teammates say the loss isn't his fault.
"He's a leader and it wasn't just him," said Kevin Love. "It takes all of us to win the game. A lot of guys chipped in and there were different shots or plays down the stretch that weren't on him that could have gone our way, so it's not just him. It's on all of us."
"You win as a team, you lose as a team," echoed Tristan Thompson. "The game was not determined on those two free throws. There were plenty of opportunities. If you want to do that, then when I missed the tip-in, one guy misses a shot, one guy has a turnover … You win as a team, you lose as a team."
Cleveland has now lost two games in a row. They will try to get on track Tuesday night against the Boston Celtics.
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