The Los Angeles Lakers wrapped up their East Coast swing with a 5-1 record after clinging on for a 125-120 victory over the Washington Wizards.
It leaves them ninth in the Western Conference, meaning they need to win twice in the play-in tournament if they are to make the main play-off bracket.
Anthony Davis scored 35 points, with LeBron James picking up 25 with nine assists while Rui Hachimura bagged19 points against his former side.
With the game seemingly in hand at 125-112 with just over a minute to play, Lakers removed James, Davis, Hachimura and Austin Reaves only for the young backup group to surrender eight straight points.
This led to coach Darvin Ham sending the starters back into the game for the final 17 seconds.
Speaking about it after the match, Ham said: “I hate the term garbage time.
“You’re playing in the NBA. There’s only so many spots, and you get a chance to play, even if it’s the last 50 seconds, go hard. Go hard or you stay home, pretty much.”
James thinks despite their disappointment at being pulled, it will be a valuable moment in the development of the replacements.
“That’s how you learn,” James said. “Best teacher in life is the experience.”
The Lakers’ final extended road trip of the season finished in Washington having already beaten the Milwaukee Bucks, the Memphis Grizzlies, the Brooklyn Nets and the Toronto Raptors.
Their only defeat of the period came at the Indiana Pacers.
Evaluating the run of results, James said: “Last game on a 10-day road trip, coming off a back-to-back, getting in late last night, you do whatever you need to do to win the game.
“So, it took all 48 minutes. Good trip for us. Hell of a trip for us. Offensively, we’ve been very consistent.
“Still gotta crack down on unforced turnovers, but we’ve been in a good rhythm. Playing off one another.”
They return home to continue the play-off race against the Cleveland Cavaliers on April 6, and James knows they can only take the season one game at a time.
“Our focus is on our next opponent,” he said.
“We’re excited to get a day off and just get away from the game. It’ll be great for us to have these two days.”
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