Anthony Davis and LeBron James went 12 for 17 from the free-throw line. AD ended 10-for-13, while King James went 2-for-4. The LA Lakers lost to the Orlando Magic 119-118 on Thursday after the two superstars missed critical late free throws.
In the postgame interview, Lakers coach JJ Redick candidly assessed the team’s late collapse, allowing the Magic to win. He said, “Frankly, it swung on our missed free throws tonight.”
LeBron James missed one of two attempts from the charity stripe as the Lakers led 116-114. When it was Davis’ time, he made one of two free throw tries after Jalen Suggs committed a loose ball foul. LA might have had a 120-114 lead, but they settled for a 118-114 one.
The LA Lakers were forced to pay for those missed by Franz Wagner. With 20 seconds remaining, the German trimmed LA’s advantage with a layup. Wagner gave AD two extra chances from the free-throw line by committing a take foul just after he scored. Davis missed both of his chances to ice the game.
LeBron James Doesn’t Think Free-Throws Were The Reason Behind Lakers’ Defeat
Following the Lakers’ 119-118 loss against the Magic, LeBron James was frank in his remarks. James said that the team’s poor performance in the third quarter set them up to lose the game and that the defeat couldn’t be attributed to the late missed free throws by him and Anthony Davis.
James addressed, “No [the game wasn’t lost on free throws]. We had our chances, but they played well. Obviously, the biggest bucket of the night was Franz [Wagner]. But we put ourselves in a position to win the game; we just didn’t come through… Because it’s a 48-minute game, you can’t just point to the free throws. Those are obviously the ones you want to close out the game. We had our chances, we missed them, and you move on.”
He added, “But what we did in the third quarter got outscored 29-21. We came out, lost a 7-point lead from the half, and they took the lead in the third. There were a lot of things in between the game; you can’t just point to one thing. Obviously, you have your opportunity at the free-throw line; we didn’t capitalize. Cool. We move on from that.”
LeBron James also discussed how long-term sustainable JJ Redick’s teaching effort will be. James obviously disagrees that the team lost tonight’s game because of their poor free-throw shooting.
