The timer that indicates Anthony Davis To get your feet out of the purple ice cube kept ringing, but no one stopped it. Davis, eyes frozen and fixed on the door, did not move, hands folded in his lap, the disappointment of the night filling all the empty space in the locker room.
The Lakers hadn’t experienced a loss in Los Angeles this season, and they definitely hadn’t felt a loss like this.
Franz Wagner hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 3.3 seconds left, giving the Orlando Magic a lead. 119-118 victory 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 led the Lakers to their seventh straight victory. Afterwards, he sat in the locker room in stunned stillness.
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“We lost the game,” Davis said quietly. “I missed three free throws down the stretch. Go down, make a three, take the lead. My free throws are very important, very crucial. I missed them.”
It wasn’t just Davis. He Lakers They had their chances with the shot being the only one easy enough to have the word “free” in front of it. But LeBron James split on a late trip to the line. Austin Reavesone of the Lakers’ best shooters, missed two earlier in the decisive moment.
“We miss 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 going to a very dark place, literally.” Lakers coach JJ Redick he said about the way he processes a loss like this. “It’s the basement. “I turn off the lights and watch the game film.”
The team had played well against the Magic, minus a clunky third quarter when a 10-point lead vanished as Orlando’s zone defense stalled the Lakers.
But James’ fourth-quarter magic (he scored 14 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter) looked like it would be enough to help them overcome. He found Davis on a full-court assist that gave the Lakers a late three-point lead and gave them momentum.
However, misses at the foul line kept the Magic alive, and Wagner, in the midst of a great season, hit the biggest shot to silence the Crypto.com Arena. He finished with 37 points, 11 assists, six rebounds and four steals.
“I didn’t love the thought process and mentality when Wagner hit the three,” Redick said.
Davis, who led the Lakers with 39 points, badly missed a contested shot at the buzzer.
“Any loss is frustrating,” Davis said. “It’s more frustrating for me because I’m the one who missed the free throws.”
The Lakers host Denver on Saturday night, the team that eliminated them in the last two postseasons.
“We had our opportunities. They played well,” James said. “We played well. I mean, obviously, the biggest bucket of the night, obviously, 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 originally appeared on Los Angeles Times.