The Los Angeles Lakers’ six-game winning streak ended in a tough loss to the Orlando Magic on Thursday night.
The Lakers had a chance to win in the final minute, but missed free throws, especially two by Anthony Davis with 18 seconds left, allowed the Magic to steal the victory.
This was especially disappointing because Davis had a great game, finishing with 39 points, nine rebounds, and three blocks.
He started the game making all nine of his free throws, but missed three out of four in the final 27 seconds, which gave Franz Wagner the opportunity to hit a huge 3-pointer with 2.5 seconds left, securing the win for Orlando.
After the game, Davis took full responsibility for the loss because of 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 went on to explain how every loss is frustrating for him, but this one was even harder because he had the chance to win the game.
“Any loss is frustrating. More frustrating for me,” Davis added. “I’m the one who missed the free throws, so any loss is frustrating.”
This is the kind of response expected from a superstar like Davis, who holds himself to the highest standard. However, he wasn’t the only one who missed free throws in the fourth quarter.
Both LeBron James and Austin Reaves also missed key free throws that could have made a difference. The Lakers wouldn’t even have been in a position to win if it weren’t for Davis’ strong performance throughout the game.
But like all great players, Davis wants nothing less than perfection, and this loss will only motivate him more when the Lakers play next.
Lakers head coach JJ Redick shared similar thoughts after the game. He mentioned that while every loss is frustrating, he felt that the team’s effort was mostly fine. However, the missed free throws played a major role in swinging the game.
“Every loss is frustrating. Every loss is frustrating,” Redick said after the loss. “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 have 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.”
