The Los Angeles Lakers saw their six-game win streak come to an end in heartbreaking fashion to the Orlando Magic on Thursday night.
The Lakers had the chance to put the game away in the final minute, but missed free throws, most notably a pair by Anthony Davis with 18 seconds remaining, opening the door for the Magic to steal the victory.
It is a shame because Davis was excellent on the night overall, finishing with 39 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. He started off 9-of-9 from the free throw line as well, but missed three of four in the final 27 seconds which allowed Franz Wagner to come through with a massive 3-pointer with 2.5 seconds left to give Orlando the win.
Afterwards, Davis pulled no punches in taking the blame for the loss due to his missed free throws down the stretch.
“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.”
The Lakers superstar would continue on, noting how all losses are frustrating, but this is one even more so for him because he had the chance to bring the win home.
“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 attitude one would expect from a superstar of Davis’ caliber who didn’t come through in the clutch, but the big man is far from the only one to blame for this loss. Davis isn’t the only player who missed free throws in the fourth as both LeBron James and Austin Reaves had misses late that would’ve made a difference and quite frankly the Lakers wouldn’t have been in the position to win without his efforts all game long.
But the greats are never satisfied and thrive for nothing less than the best and Davis was not at his best at the line in that final minute. But make no mistake this will only work to motivate him that much more when the Lakers return to the court.
JJ Redick believes Lakers loss to Magic swung on missed free throws
Lakers head coach JJ Redick echoed some of the same thoughts as Anthony Davis postgame as well. Redick spoke about every loss being frustrating and, while he felt the team’s execution for the most part was fine, those missed free throws really swung the momentum.
“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’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.”
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