Los Angeles very nearly blew their comeback bid against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Play-In Tournament. The Lakers managed to survive in overtime and salvage the same result despite Anthony Davis‘ glaring blunder right at the buzzer in regulation.
AD fouled Mike Conley on a corner three, which allowed the Timberwolves veteran to sink all three and force overtime.
A look at the Anthony Davis foul on Mike Conley's 3-pointer that led to overtime.
Wow… 🤯pic.twitter.com/1cXvtrVgCy
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) April 12, 2023
Had the foul not been committed, Dennis Schroder and LeBron James would have been the crunch time heroes. Schroder drained the go-ahead triple off a James assist, an advantage that was wiped away by the ensuing free throws.
LeBron made sure to call out the blunder on the broadcast too, which AD took in stride while taking full responsibility:
“It's unfortunate that [Anthony Davis] had a brain fart and messed his game-winner up,” said LeBron James.
"AD had a brainfart and messed his game-winner up."
LeBron James blamed Anthony Davis for sending the game to overtime, nullifying Dennis Schroder's regulation go-ahead bucket 😅pic.twitter.com/IqPgW3dCax
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) April 12, 2023
It's easy to forgive your teammates after a win. The mistake would have cast a much darker shadow in the Lakers locker room had they not escaped OT on top.
But history is written by the victors. Lakers fans won't have to live down the costly play beyond just being a frustrating footnote in an otherwise scrappy Play-In comeback against the Timberwolves.
The trio of LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Dennis Schroder led the way for the Lakers. They combined for 75 of the team's 108 points to help turn the tide on a game they trailed by as many as 15 points in the second half. They'll need to do more of the same if they hope to upset the two-seeded Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs
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