The Los Angeles Lakers suffered their second consecutive defeat in the NBA regular season, losing by a narrow one-point margin to the Orlando Magic.
The Lakers, with stars LeBron James and Luka Doncic in the lineup, failed to hold onto a 12-point lead in the third quarter, leaving the winner to be decided in a dramatic 12 minutes of the final period.
The end of the match was extremely close, with both teams one shot away from victory. With half a minute left before the final whistle, Orlando had a one-point lead, and before the final shot of the match, they led 110:109.
The Lakers had the last attack of the game with six seconds left. James and Doncic decided to organize the attack between themselves: the Slovenian opened up for LeBron's pass and could have made a winning three-pointer, which at that time he had only made two of 10 in the game.
Instead, Doncic decided to pass the ball back to James, who was forced to take his shot from a difficult position, turning and being accompanied by a defender. In the end, the American missed the shot – the Lakers lost 109:110.
After the game, both Los Angeles leaders were asked about the events that cost the team the victory. LeBron replied that he wasn't expecting a pass from his partner — and instead was counting on a well-aimed long-range shot from Doncic.
“Obviously, you have to ask Luke what he saw in that. I thought he got a good shot. It looked like he was a little off balance. He didn't have rhythm on the ball or anything – it allowed opponents to get back in front of him. I was [also] a little off balance when he gave the ball to me,” James explained.
Doncic, who became the team's top scorer with 22 points, explained why he decided not to shoot to win the match.
“I know I was open, but I felt like I was too far away. I tried to bring the ball a little closer. I probably shouldn't have picked up the ball, but just tried to attack.”
Having suffered their 23rd defeat in the regular season (in 57 games), the Lakers are in sixth place in the NBA Western Conference – the last qualifying position, guaranteeing a direct entry into the playoffs.