Many people are pointing to the Los Angeles Lakers’ missed free throws in the fourth quarter as the main reason for their loss to the Orlando Magic on Thursday night.
Austin Reaves missed two, LeBron James missed one, but it was Anthony Davis who missed 3 out of 4 free throws in the final 27 seconds, which allowed the Magic to stay in the game and win with a game-winning three-pointer by Franz Wagner.
It was a tough loss for the Lakers, and their first home loss of the season. After the game, Reaves didn’t have a clear reason for the missed free throws.
“We missed them. That’s really it,” Reaves said.
For Reaves, the Lakers simply didn’t make the free throws when they needed to. However, Reaves defended Davis and expressed his full confidence in his teammate. He said he would trust Davis in the same situation next time.
“Like you said, he wasn’t the only one who missed them,” Reaves said. “I missed them, he missed them, Bron missed one. As a collective, we didn’t shoot free throws good in the fourth quarter. That’s ultimately the reason we lost the game.
Obviously, he does so much for our team that two missed free throws aren’t gonna change anything. We’ll throw him the ball in the same spot next game if it comes down to it, and we have the confidence in him to make them.”
Reaves has always defended Davis in the past, often saying that Davis doesn’t get enough credit for everything he does for the team. This message stayed the same after this loss, as Reaves knows Davis will come through for the Lakers more times than not.
As for the loss, Reaves, like the rest of the team, was frustrated but understands they need to move on.
“A loss is a loss,” Reaves said. “Yeah, some games you sometimes don’t have a chance of winning and just play bad basketball. Tonight, like you said, we put ourselves in a position to win the game and didn’t, so obviously it’s frustrating. But it goes in the loss column and you move on.”
The Lakers can’t afford to dwell on this defeat since the season is still long. They will face many more close games, and Reaves and Davis will make sure they do everything they can to make sure the outcome is different next time.
Lakers’ Austin Reaves has been urging Anthony Davis to shoot more 3-pointers
Anthony Davis has clearly been the best player for the Lakers all season, and one area where he has made huge progress is in his 3-point shooting, something Austin Reaves has been asking for years.
Reaves recently said he has been ‘begging’ Davis to take more 3s, pointing out how it improves the spacing on the floor, making it easier for the team to attack the basket and either get easy scores or create open shots for others.
