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Dave McMenamin
Multiple Authors
LOS ANGELES — The Lakers lost to the Orlando Magic 110-109 on Tuesday after a botched sidelines out-of-bounds play between LeBron James and Luka Doncic in the final seconds failed to produce a quality shot.
After Magic center Wendell Carter Jr. scored on a putback with 6.7 seconds remaining to put Orlando up one, L.A. called timeout. On the ensuing play, James passed the ball to an open Doncic, who caught it on the left wing beyond the 3-point line but opted not to shoot.
“I know I was open, but I just thought I was a little bit far,” Doncic said. “Tried to take one dribble closer. And I probably shouldn’t have picked up the ball and just tried to attack.”
Once he stopped his dribble, Doncic was immediately double-teamed by the Magic’s Paolo Banchero and Anthony Black. He paused, pivoted and passed the ball back to James, who was covered by Orlando’s Jonathan Isaac on the wing.
James caught the pass with 2.9 seconds left, turned away from Isaac and shot a 27-foot fadeaway 3-pointer that missed at the buzzer.
“I thought he had a good look, and it looked like he kind of just lost his balance,” James said when asked for an explanation of what broke down. “Didn’t have a rhythm with the ball, whatever the case may be. And it kind of allowed [Orlando’s defense] 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.”
Doncic, who was 8-for-24 for the game and 2-for-10 from 3, was asked if his shooting struggles entered his mind when he turned down the initial shot.
“Maybe a little bit,” he said. “I think I thought it was more time. It was, what, six, seven seconds. It was enough time to get a better look, try to drive the ball, so that’s why I picked [up my dribble].”
Doncic said he did not speak to James about the play after the game.
When asked if he believed James would have a good shot to win it when he passed it, Doncic — who had a season-high 15 assists — said he thought James did.
“I mean, I just saw him open, and I didn’t want to lose the ball,” Doncic said. “We didn’t have timeouts. … [But] I shouldn’t have picked up the ball. I should have attacked. … That’s on me.”
The inbounds play was one of several missed opportunities that caused L.A. to blow a 12-point second-half lead and lose for the first time all season when leading after three quarters after being 25-0.
James missed a free throw with 44.7 seconds left that would have put L.A. up by 3, and Orlando’s Desmond Bane made a 3 on the next possession to give the Magic a one-point lead.
After Banchero missed a pull-up shot with 10.5 seconds remaining with L.A. up by one, the Lakers failed to secure the defensive rebound, leading to Carter’s go-ahead putback.
The loss to Orlando dropped the Lakers’ record to 4-4 over their eight-game homestand. They head on the road to play the Phoenix Suns on Thursday followed by the Golden State Warriors on Saturday.
“It’s a bit upsetting,” Lakers center Deandre Ayton said of the home losses. “We still got a lot of chances to just get in as good of a position as we can. Did feel weird in the homestand, just being 4-4. It was tough losses and played against some really good teams. But … just get back in the lab and just get ready for the next game.”