With lower than 30 seconds left in Friday night time’s sport, the Los Angeles Lakers had been trailing the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder by two factors and wanted an enormous defensive play to show the sport round.
As Max Christie ready to protect Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lakers coach JJ Redick signaled a defensive name. Nevertheless, Christie misunderstood the sign and thought the crew had a foul to offer. He fouled Gilgeous-Alexander on a drive, unaware the Thunder had been already within the bonus.
This error allowed Gilgeous-Alexander to shoot two free throws, which he made, extending the Thunder’s result in 4 factors with simply 22.4 seconds left. This all however ended the Lakers’ probabilities.
“It was my mistake,” Christie admitted. “I knew the time and rating however didn’t realise they had been within the bonus. I take accountability. I received’t say it value us the entire sport, but it surely was the most important mistake of the night time.”
The Lakers misplaced 101-93, bringing their document to 11-8 and knocking them out of the NBA Cup. This was their third straight house loss and fourth defeat in 5 video games, together with powerful matchups in opposition to sturdy Western Convention groups just like the Thunder, Denver Nuggets, and Phoenix Suns.
Christie’s foul was a key second, but it surely wasn’t the one mistake. On the subsequent play, Austin Reaves, who performed by way of an arm harm, threw a nasty move that was intercepted by Jalen Williams for a game-sealing dunk.
LeBron James, Reaves, and D’Angelo Russell mixed for 14 of the crew’s 17 turnovers, which led to twenty factors for the Thunder. These errors harm much more for a Lakers crew ranked twenty fifth within the league on protection.
“There have been a number of performs that harm us earlier than the late-game errors,” Redick stated. “We performed onerous sufficient to win in opposition to the most effective crew within the West, so there are positives, however we have to clear up the errors.”
The Lakers might want to regroup rapidly as their schedule doesn’t get any simpler within the aggressive Western Convention.
