LeBron James loses a shoe and Lakers run out of chances in loss to Hornets

Anthony Davis stood at the end of the Lakers’ introduction line dressed in all black, a smile on his face as he watched his teammates go through their pregame routine.

Davis was unable to play because of a stress injury in his right foot that the team said Friday would leave him sidelined indefinitely.

Before they played the Charlotte Hornets at Crypto.com Arena, the Lakers said Davis had received extensive consultation with the team’s physicians and outside specialists to determine his injury.

Then late in the fourth quarter, the player who started in place of Davis, Thomas Bryant, injured his right shoulder and had to be helped to the locker room with 3 minutes 16 seconds left in the Lakers’ eventual 134-130 loss to the Hornets. Afterward, the Lakers said Bryant was still being evaluated and did not have an update.

Even with all the injuries, Lakers coach Darvin Ham was not happy with his team’s performance, saying that the thing that “pisses me off” were the “self-inflected wounds.”

“We have to do a much, much better job, again, of maintaining competitiveness, closing out teams, holding them to one possession, possession by possession, just holding them to one shot,” Ham said. “And when we get the ball, being better organized.”

With Davis sitting out his fourth consecutive game — and counting — the Lakers once again turned to LeBron James to make up for his considerable absence.

It helped that Russell Westbrook, who sat out the last two games because of left ankle soreness, and Austin Reaves, who sat out the last two because of a sprained right ankle, had both returned.

But even with James producing 34 points and eight rebounds, it wasn’t enough to stop the Lakers from losing their third straight game.

They had one last chance to win after James was called for goaltending a shot Gordon Hayward made by getting an offensive rebound with six seconds left to give the Hornets a 132-130 lead.

When the Lakers got the ball back, the Hornets double-teamed James, who lost his shoe and fell as he passed the ball to Dennis Schroder in the corner. But Schroder missed a potential winning three-pointer, and that was it for the Lakers.

“Obviously had our chances tonight,” James said. “It was another, don’t say disappointing because I’m not disappointed in our effort. I’m not disappointed in our guys. Just you want to be out there and be able to win the game that’s right there for you.”

Getting back to Davis, it appeared as if Davis was injured in the first quarter of a home game against the Denver Nuggets on Dec. 16, when he clipped the outside of his foot against the inside of Denver center Nikola Jokic’s leg on a reverse layup. Davis continued to play in the first half, but he stayed in the locker room at halftime and hasn’t played since.

Davis had been playing at an elite level this season, having his name mentioned in MVP conversations for averaging 27.4 points (11th best in the NBA), 12.1 rebounds and 2.1 blocks (both third best in the league).

“It's tough on him, man, just his history, and here in recent years, you know not being able to be available its tough. And especially with the year he was having, the level he was playing at, it's tough for him,” Ham said before the game.

“He's trying to lend moral support and still be there as a teammate and give great feedback to the guys, give feedback to the coaches. So, he's still mentally, spiritually involved. He's not detached from the group. It’s unfortunate, but we'll get through and hopefully have him back as soon as possible.”

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.