The Los Angeles Lakers suffered a 124-123 loss against the lowly New York Knicks in a game where they led by as much as 11 with less than four minutes to play.
The Lakers were up 122-111 with 3:44 remaining on the clock, but they were held to a single point the rest of the way. Los Angeles was still up by one with 22.3 seconds left, but instead of playing defense, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope committed a foul against Emmanuel Mudiay who sank two free throws to make it 124-123 in favor of New York.
Los Angeles had a chance to win the game though, but head coach Luke Walton didn't call a timeout. Instead, he allowed LeBron James to orchestrate the final play, which he did driving to the basket and attempting to score on a game-winning fade-away jumper. Unfortunately, he was blocked by Mario Hezonja, sealing the win for the Knicks.
During postgame interviews, Walton explained his decision to not call a timeout during the most crucial part of the game.
https://twitter.com/hmfaigen/status/1107369706803990528
Luke Walton did make sense, as their final play would have been the same, which is to of course, to give the ball to LeBron James. However, they could've used the timeout to draw a better play rather than just letting the superstar milk the clock and drive to the basket in the end. The Knicks obviously predicted that.
The Lakers fall to 31-39 for the season.
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