Franz Wagner hit a game-winning three-pointer with 2.5 seconds left to give the Orlando Magic a thrilling win over the Los Angeles Lakers last night, but Wagner’s heroics would have been a non-factor had the Lakers, and Anthony Davis, in particular, made a few more free throws in crunch time.
With the Lakers up by two points, Davis went to the free-throw line and had a chance to possibly ice the game Thursday evening. However, the star big man missed both shots from the line with 18.9 seconds remaining, opening the proverbial door for Wagner to make the go-ahead three moments later.
The Lakers’ free-throw woes did them in against the Magic, and it came from LeBron James and Anthony Davis
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— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) November 22, 2024
Following the defeat, Davis talked about his feelings after the defeat.
“Any loss is frustrating,” Davis said. “It’s more frustrating for me because I’m the one who missed the free throws. But any loss is frustrating.”
Lakers fumble at free-throw line, lose in heartbreaker to Magic
Davis was not the only Lakers player to miss free throws down the stretch of Thursday’s loss, though. While Davis went 1-for-4 at the line in the final two minutes, Austin Reaves and LeBron James were a combined 1-4 on free throws in the clutch. The six points the trio left at the line proved incredibly costly.
James, who finished the night with a 31-point, 10-rebound double-double said the free throws were not the only reason the Lakers lost Thursday.
“It’s a 48-minute game. You can’t just point to the free throws. Obviously, you want to try to close out the game, we had our chances, we missed them, and you move on,” James said after the game. “But if you just — what we did in the third quarter, we got outscored 29-21. We came out, lost the lead — we had a seven-point lead at halftime — and they took the lead in the third. There’s a lot of game between the game. You can’t just point to one thing.”
LeBron James pointed to the Lakers’ lackluster 3rd Q effort as being as damning to their chances as their missed free throws in the 4th pic.twitter.com/VVZw4p3fqT
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) November 22, 2024
All things considered, James and Davis, the Lakers’ star duo had another great game. The pair combined for 70 points and shot 26-for-44 from the field. However, aside from a 17-point performance from rookie Dalton Knecht, they received little help from the supporting cast.
Reaves, in particular, struggled Thursday. In addition to going 2-for-5 at the free-throw line, Reaves went for 3-for-12 from the field, 1-for-4 on three-pointers, and finished the night with just nine points. Similarly, D’Angelo Russell went 1-for-7 beyond the arc and did not make a trip to the charity stripe in a 7-point, 6-assist showing.
The loss to the Magic snaps the Lakers’ six-game win streak that began on Nov. 8. Los Angeles now sits in fourth place in the Western Conference, 1.5 games back from the first-place Golden State Warriors.
Next up for the Lakers is another home game tomorrow vs. the Denver Nuggets, whose star Nikola Jokic has missed the last three road games due to personal reasons.
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