A lot of confusion ensued in the final possession of the Los Angeles Lakers‘ heartbreaking 109-108 loss to the Orlando Magic on Tuesday. With 7.0 seconds left, the Lakers ran a nice ATO play to get Luka Doncic an open look, but the Slovenian instead passed the ball to LeBron James, who missed an off-balance, heavily contested three as the buzzer sounded.
So, why did Doncic pass up the open look?
According to several social media accounts, Doncic could be heard saying that James asked him to pass the rock on the final possession, so he did.
“He told me to pass, I passed,” Doncic was heard saying, shrugging after the loss.
Luka Doncic Takes Accountability
For what it’s worth, Doncic took blame for making an ill-advised pass to James, who shot 30.3% from threee entering Tuesday’s game.
“I knew I was open, but I just thought it was a little bit far,” Luka said after the loss, via BasketNews.
“I tried to take one dribble closer and… probably should have picked up the ball and just tried to attack.
“I mean, I just saw him [LeBron] open, and I didn’t want to lose the ball, and we didn’t have timeouts,” he added. “Like I said, I should have picked up the ball, should have attacked. I thought he was gonna get a better look. So, that’s on me.”
Lakers Drew Up Play For Luka
Lakers head coach JJ Redick confirmed that the ATO play was run specifically to get Doncic the final shot.
Meanwhile, James sounded perplexed that Doncic passed up the open shot.
“Obviously, you have to ask Luka what he saw on that,” James said, via Lakers Daily.
“I thought he had a good look. … I was kind of off balance when he gave it to me. I thought he had a great look.”
Doncic, who shot 2-of-10 from three before the final possession, was probably not feeling confident about his shot, which likely prompted the pass. As such, Lakers legend James Worthy felt the Lakers should have run a play for Austin Reaves, who had a team-high eight points in the fourth quarter and was in a much better rhythm.
“With Luka not shooting the ball as well, maybe you go to Austin,” Worthy said in the postgame show on Spectrum SportsNet.
“The Lakers have many options (in crunch time). I think they gotta look at more than 1,” added the 1988 NBA Finals MVP on the controversial final possession.
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