LeBron James' historic 18-year postseason record broken by the Houston Rockets in Game 5

LeBron James' historic 18-year postseason record broken by the Houston Rockets in Game 5 originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . The Los Angeles Lakers could not close out the series against the Houston Rockets in Game 5 of their first-round series.

This was familiar territory for Lakers superstar LeBron James, who had never lost a close-out game at home since the 2008 postseason . Due to his longevity, that is one of the most impressive achievements of any player today. However, that record has now ended because James and the Lakers lost to the Rockets on Wednesday, 99-93.

It was a competitive game, but the Rockets were the better team. LeBron James' long-lasting record of 18 years has now ended after Game 5 loss For the longest time, LeBron was one of the toughest players to beat in the Playoffs. In the 2010s, he had a stranglehold on the Eastern Conference, as his team made the Finals from 2011 to 2018.

It was one of the biggest reasons why he is considered one of the greatest players of all time. Included in that stretch is his team's dominance during close-out games. When his team played at home, he never lost a game of that nature since the 2008 postseason.