LOS ANGELES — First, the good news.

LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook combined for their best game as the Lakers’ “Big Three.”

And yet they almost lost to the young, inexperienced Houston Rockets.

Kevin Porter Jr. missed a three-point shot at the final buzzer and the Lakers held on to win, 119-117, Tuesday at Staples Center.

The Lakers didn’t sweat two days earlier in a 95-85 victory over the Rockets, leading by as many as 28 points. They were in a tight game from the start Tuesday.

The Lakers gave up 70 points in the first half — 70! — to a team averaging only 101.5 points, 26th in the NBA.

The Rockets scored every which way — cruising through the paint, drilling three-pointers, converting fastbreaks and dunking without resistance on inbounds plays.

“When you’ve got a young team like that with no conscience…they made a lot of shots,” Davis said.

But then James ended all the Rockets’ fun by taking over the fourth quarter and scoring 14 of his 30 points to push the Lakers (5-3) to victory. The undersized Rockets couldn’t stop him from driving time after time for a variety of lay-ups down the left side.

Not even a bizarre twist in the final minutes could disarm the Lakers…though it was close.

Referees conferred during a time out and decided that Kent Bazemore’s two free throws were awarded accidentally because Houston had committed only four team fouls at the time, not five. The decision happened a few possessions after Bazemore’s free throws, and the points were taken off the scoreboard.

Lakers Coach Frank Vogel said he was “very frustrated” by the decision to deduct two points retroactively.

“It’s definitely something the league’s got to look at,” Vogel said. “Once play resumes, you can’t correct that...because they can’t give us that possession back.

The Lakers had to attack the basket more often Tuesday because they cooled off drastically from three-point range, making only six of 25 behind the arc (24%).

Westbrook was aggressive from the start, scoring 27 points and adding seven assists. Davis also had 27 points. Along with James, they were a big reason the Lakers had 78 points in the paint. The team record was 86 points in the paint in 2017 against Houston.

“Just rhythm, getting shots that we want and finishing,” Westbrook said.

It was only the sixth time they'd played in a game together.

Christian Wood had 26 points and 16 rebounds for Houston, which dropped to 1-6.

The Lakers’ season continues Thursday with a home game against Oklahoma City, a team with a 1-6 record that rallied from a 26-point deficit to beat the Lakers last week.

The Lakers were 230-0 when leading by 25 points in a game over the last 25 years. Then they fell to Oklahoma City, though James didn’t play that night.