LOS ANGELES — The Lakers were trailing by one Tuesday night when Luka Dončić sprung loose on an inbounds play, but the star guard didn’t attempt the go-ahead shot. That rare moment of indecisiveness from the NBA’s leading scorer meant LeBron James had to try a falling-out-of-bounds miracle jumper that missed, and the Lakers lost 110-109 to the Orlando Magic.
“I know I was open, but I just thought I was a little bit far,” Dončić said. “Tried to take one dribble closer. And I probably shouldn’t have picked up the (ball), just tried to attack.”
James said he thought Dončić was open.
“Obviously, you have to ask Luka what he saw on that. But I thought he had a good look and it looked like he kinda just lost his balance, you know. Didn’t have a rhythm with the ball, whatever the case may be,” James said. “And it kinda allowed them to get back in front of him. And I was kind of off-balance when he gave it to me. I thought he had a great look. That’s my POV.”
The Lakers finished a season-long eight-game homestand that stretches back to the NBA trade deadline at 4-4, with consecutive losses to Boston and Orlando.
The last-second miscue came after the Lakers had lost a 12-point second-half lead. They trailed by five with less than six minutes to play before a 13-5 run put them up three with 2:14 left. But the final two minutes were a mess.
Austin Reaves’ open corner 3 to go up six rimmed in and bounced out, leading to Orlando’s Paolo Banchero scoring on a drive to cut it to one. James then split a pair of free throws to put the Lakers back up two, but over helping on defense allowed Desmond Bane to get open and hit a 3 to put Orlando ahead.
The Lakers tried to go two-for-one, but Rui Hachimura airballed a corner 3. The Lakers, though, did take the lead on perfectly executed inbounds play that got James an easy dunk. But on Orlando’s final possession, the Magic got a pair of offensive rebounds, with Wendell Carter Jr. finally pushing the ball through the hoop for the eventual game-winner.
With 6.7 seconds left, the Lakers called timeout and Redick drew up a play he said they executed. James inbounded the ball to Dončić, who was open — but he didn’t shoot. He took one dribble, but as Orlando threw defenders at him, he picked up the ball and made the pass to a covered James.
“I thought we had a good opportunity,” James said. “(Luka) came off clean and I think he felt off-balance. But we executed. We didn’t get the shot that we wanted. We did execute it. It just didn’t go down.”
Dončić, who made just 2-of-10 from 3, admitted that the off-night might’ve caused him to hesitate.
“Maybe a little bit,” Dončić said. “I think I thought it was more time. It was, what, 6-7 seconds. It was enough time to get a better look, try to drive the ball, so that’s why I picked (up my dribble).”
Dončić finished 8-for-24 from the field and 4-of-9 from the free-throw line, scoring 22 points. James and Deandre Ayton had 21 each and Austin Reaves scored 18, all coming in the second half.
The Lakers, who were challenged to play more through the pass, did have 24 assists, with Dončić dishing out a season-high 15 of them. They are now 15-4 when Dončić has at least 10 assists.