LeBron James finally looked human in the Los Angeles Lakers’ Game 4 loss to the Houston Rockets as he struggled with scoring and taking care of the basketball.

James understandably looked fatigued after his Game 3 heroics this past Friday, but he and the team were unable to put up much of a fight against a Houston team playing for its playoff life. The series has been a physical one with tensions starting to boil, and near the end of Game 4 both Adou Thiero and Aaron Holiday were ejected after jawing at one another.

Thiero’s ejection seemed unwarranted given what happened on the court and James said after the game he was upset on behalf of his rookie teammate.

“I’m more pissed off about them kicking Adou out,” James said. “I thought that was uncalled for and it just made no sense. I think that was his first time he’s ever been thrown out of a game in his life. I don’t think that was warranted. Giving two technicals? The kid just got in the game. That was ridiculous. I don’t know what was happening at the end of the game.”

James wasn’t the only teammate to come to Thiero’s defense as Luka Doncic volunteered to pay any fine that the league might assess. Thiero and Holiday were seen battling underneath the basket for a rebound and after the play was over the two exchanged words, prompting teammates and officials to separate the two.

With the game out of hand and no prior history of trouble between the two players, it would have made more sense to issue warnings and proceed with the remainder of regulation. However, the officials seemed to want to send a message to the players and coaches that any sort of altercations or situations will result in immediate technicals and ejections.

For example, Thiero wasn’t the only Lakers player disqualified from the game as Deandre Ayton was assessed a Flagrant 2 for elbowing Alperen Sengun in the head. The play didn’t look intentional, and Ayton explained that he wasn’t trying to hurt Sengun and that his elbow slipped.

With how chippy this series has gotten, the officiating will be under scrutiny for Game 5.

LeBron James discusses conserving energy

James led the Lakers to a wild Game 3 overtime win against the Rockets, playing 45 minutes in the process. James’ physical abilities are unmatched and he explained how he’s able to conserve energy in crunch time minutes.

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