LOS ANGELES -- It took only three games with LeBron James and Luka Doncic as teammates before the Los Angeles Lakers had to answer the question: Who gets the last shot?

Wednesday, it was James. The 22-year veteran missed two potential game-tying 3-pointers in the waning seconds of L.A.'s 100-97 loss to the Charlotte Hornets.

Doncic, who threw the inbounds pass to James with 6.3 seconds left, setting up the first shot, said their roles are interchangeable.

"He had it going, so obviously we're going to go to him," Doncic said. "I think it will go both ways. One time it's going to be him, one time me. So, I think it depends how the game is going."

Before his final two misses -- the last falling short at the buzzer after Gabe Vincent grabbed the offensive rebound followed James' first missed 3 and fed him again -- James had scored 16 points in the fourth quarter on 6-for-8 shooting, including 2-for-3 from 3. Doncic, meanwhile, had scored five points in the fourth on 2-for-5 shooting.

"As a coach, you're excited that you have two guys that can be the passer and be the guy who gets the pass," Lakers coach JJ Redick said of the late-game dynamic between James and Doncic. "But it felt like LeBron, particularly in the fourth, just found a nice rhythm and I felt really comfortable with that. And we got two good looks."

James said that he "felt pretty good" with the play call to get him the ball for a 3 above the break. He had just made one with 6.8 seconds remaining to cut the Hornets lead from four to one at 98-97.

"We run the set that JJ draws up," James said of being the guy to take the last shot Wednesday. "You execute it. And we executed it. We just didn't make it."

James finished with his typical production -- 26 points on 10-for-22 shooting, 11 assists, seven rebounds and two blocks -- but the Lakers struggled overall against the Hornets.

Doncic nearly posted a triple-double with 14 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, but he shot just 5-for-18 with six turnovers. Austin Reaves shot 3-for-9 before being ejected late in the third quarter for picking up two quick technical fouls in succession from referee Rodney Mott. Rui Hachimura scored 17 points but shot 1-for-8 from 3 and missed two free throws with 37.7 seconds left that could have tied the score.

"Obviously, it's going to take a little time," Doncic said. "Today, a lot of rustiness for my part. Started the game with like four or five turnovers. That can't happen. So, just got to play basketball the right way."

L.A. shot a season-high 51 times from beyond the 3-point arc and made just 15 (29.4%).

"I thought, our effort and competitive spirit was good enough to win," Redick said. "Just, we were really poor offensively for 90% of the game."

James, playing on a left ankle injury that held him out of the All-Star game, pointed out that Doncic was only playing in his third game since Christmas because of a strained left calf injury of his own.

"He still doesn't know all the plays, he doesn't know all the defensive coverages, all the signals, and things that we've built since September," James said. "So obviously, we're trying to fast-track it on the fly. He's coming back from his injury. He's getting back into form. So, we're all working through it together."