The timer signaling Anthony Davis taking her feet out of the purple ice bucket kept ringing, but no one would stop it. Davis, his eyes frozen and fixed on the door, did not move, his hands crossed on his knees, the disappointment of the night filling all the empty space of the locker room.
The Lakers hadn’t suffered a loss in Los Angeles this season, and they certainly hadn’t felt like one like this.
Franz Wagner made a three-pointer with 3.3 seconds left, giving the Orlando Magic a Victory 119-118 and end the Lakers’ undefeated start at home.
Shooting with a two-point lead with 18.9 seconds left, Davis missed a pair of free throws that likely would have given the Lakers their seventh straight victory. Then he sat in the locker room in stunned silence.
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“We lost the game,” Davis said quietly. “I missed three free throws in the last sequence. Go down, make a three, take the lead. My free throws are very important, very crucial. I missed them.
It wasn’t just Davis. THE Lakers had their chances with the shot which is the only one easy enough to have the word “free” in front. But LeBron James split on a late trip to the line. Austin Reavesone of the Lakers’ best shooters, missed two earlier in the crunch period.
“We missed them. That’s really it,” Reaves said.
The Lakers missed six free throws in the fourth quarter, turning what could have been a hard-fought victory into a devastating loss.
‘I’m literally going to a very dark place’ Lakers coach JJ Redick said about how he deals with a loss like this. “It’s the basement. I turn off the lights and watch game film.”
The team had generally played well against the Magic, except for a clunky third quarter where a 10-point lead disappeared as Orlando’s zone defense shut down the Lakers.
But James’ magic in the fourth quarter – he scored 14 of his 31 points in the final period – seemed to be enough to help them prevail. He found Davis on a full-court assist that gave the Lakers a three-point lead late in the game and gave them momentum.
Failures at the foul line kept the Magic alive, however, and Wagner, in the midst of a stellar season, made the biggest shot to silence Crypto.com Arena. He finished with 37 points, 11 assists, six rebounds and four steals.
“I didn’t like the thought process and the mindset when Wagner hit the three,” Redick said.
Davis, who led the Lakers with 39 points, missed a contested shot at the buzzer.
“Any loss is frustrating,” Davis said. “More frustrating for me because I was the one who missed the free throws.”
The Lakers host Denver, the team that eliminated them in the last two playoff series, on Saturday night.
“We had our chances. They played well,” James said. “We played well. I mean, obviously, the biggest bucket of the night was Franz. But we put ourselves in a position to win the game and we just didn’t do it.
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This story was originally published in Los Angeles Times.
