The Los Angeles Lakers’ six-game win streak came to an end in a heartbreaking loss to the Orlando Magic on Thursday night.
The Lakers had a chance to win the game in the final minute, but missed free throws, especially two by Anthony Davis with 18 seconds left, gave the Magic the chance to pull off the win.
It was tough because Davis had a strong performance, scoring 39 points, grabbing nine rebounds, and blocking three shots. He started the game making all of his first nine free throws but missed three out of four in the final 27 seconds, which allowed Franz Wagner to hit a crucial 3-pointer with 2.5 seconds left, giving Orlando the victory.
After the game, Davis took full responsibility for the loss, blaming his missed free throws.
“We lost the game,” Davis said. “I missed three free throws down the stretch. Come down, hit a three, take the lead. So my free throws are very important, very crucial. Missed them.”
Davis added that any loss is frustrating, but this one hurt even more because he felt he had the chance to win it for the team.
“Any loss is frustrating. More frustrating for me,” Davis said. “I’m the one who missed the free throws, so any loss is frustrating.”
This is the type of accountability expected from a superstar like Davis, who was disappointed in his performance at the free throw line in the clutch. However, he wasn’t the only one to miss key free throws.
LeBron James and Austin Reaves also missed free throws in the fourth quarter that could have changed the outcome. Davis’ efforts throughout the game were still a big reason the Lakers had a chance to win.
Despite the frustration, Davis will likely use this as motivation when the Lakers play again.
Lakers head coach JJ Redick shared similar thoughts after the game. He acknowledged that every loss is frustrating and said the team’s execution was mostly good, but the missed free throws played a significant role in the loss.
“Every loss is frustrating. Every loss is frustrating,” Redick said. “I thought, you know, we’ve, we’ve had, I guess, five, five losses now, you know there’s, there’s certain losses that you could point to a lack of effort, but like a lack of will and competitiveness and physicality to start a game and then you’re having to fight that.
We’ve had that in a few, you know, the Phoenix game, and this game where it comes down to late game, and it can swing on a couple plays, and frankly, it’s swung on our missed free throws tonight.”
