The Los Angeles Lakers suffered their first home loss of the season on Thursday night, losing to the Orlando Magic in a heartbreaking way after Franz Wagner hit a late 3-pointer.
The Magic only had a chance to win because the Lakers struggled at the free throw line, with LeBron James making just one of two free throws and Anthony Davis missing three in the final minute.
Many will point to these missed free throws as the reason the Lakers lost, especially Davis’ misses, since Wagner’s game-winning shot came after he missed two. However, LeBron doesn’t think the blame should fall solely on the free throws.
“No, I mean, we had our chances, but they played well,” James said after the game. “We played well. I mean, obviously the biggest bucket of the night, obviously from Franz [Wagner], but, I mean, we put ourselves in a position to win the game. We just didn’t come through for it.”
LeBron then explained further why he feels that way.
“Because it’s a 48-minute game, you can’t just point to the free throws,” the Lakers star added. “Obviously, you want to try to close out the game. We had our chances. We missed them, and you move on. But if you just look at what happened in the third quarter, we got outscored 29-21, and we lost the lead.
“We had a seven-point lead at halftime, and they took the lead in the third, so there’s a lot that happened in the game. You can’t just point to one thing. Obviously, you have your opportunity at the free-throw line. We didn’t capitalize, but we move on from that.”
As LeBron pointed out, the Lakers had a rough third quarter offensively when they could have extended their lead. Also, their defense was poor, allowing the Magic, a team that averages under 107 points per game and shoots below 31% from 3-point range, to score 119 points and hit 15 threes.
While the missed free throws played a big part in the loss, LeBron is right that the Lakers had other chances to win earlier in the game.
LeBron James also gave credit to Franz Wagner for his game-winning 3-pointer. Despite the missed free throws, the Magic still had to make the shot, and Wagner did just that with a stepback 3-pointer.
LeBron acknowledged the tough shot, saying, “I mean, but it’s you tip your hat. Cam [Reddish] played great defense on his shot. A stepback 3 from way beyond the 3-point line. You tip your hat on that.”
