The Lakers ended their eight-game homestand disappointingly, losing to the Magic 110-109. While the loss certainly stung, how it happened made it all the more painful.
Los Angeles led for the majority of the game against Orlando, but the Magic rallied in the fourth to flip the game in their favor. In the closing seconds, the Lakers had a chance to win, but Luka Dončić passed up a shot, forcing LeBron James to take a tough jumper that he missed.
Luka’s game has been called many things, but shy, timid, or hesitant are words never used regarding his play, so this moment was out of character.
After the game, Luka explained why he didn’t take that final shot.
“I know I was open but I just thought it was little bit far,” Luka said. “I tried to take one dribble closer and probably shouldn’t have picked up the ball. I was just trying to attack.”
The shot would’ve been a deep three, but considering how often Luka takes those and that the Lakers were losing, it was jarring to see him pass it up. Also, he didn’t just opt not to shoot the ball, you could see that he hesitated. He held the ball for a moment, pump-faked, and dribbled before ultimately passing it to LeBron.
Considering that Lakers head coach JJ Redick drew up a wonderful play to get Luka open, it was a shame that he didn’t take the shot.
LeBron wasn’t in a great situation here to win the game, but he also had a chance.
“I just saw him open,” LeBron said. “I didn’t want to lose the ball. We didn’t have timeouts. But like I said, I shouldn’t have picked up the ball. I should have attacked…That’s on me.”
With a few seconds left, it probably would’ve been best, as LeBron said, for him to drive to the rim instead of taking the turnaround three. After all, LA was down by just one, so they didn’t need a shot from beyond the arc to win the game.
The sloppiness of this play was emblematic of the offensive woes the Lakers were having all game long.
This is an experience for Luka to grow from. He is the face of the franchise; the play was clearly drawn up for him to take the shot. Luka had a chance to do so, and he didn’t.
Hopefully, this is the last time we ever question why Luka didn’t take a game-winning shot attempt when the ball was in his hands.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.
