It isn’t often that Luka Dončić is hesitant to make a decision on the court, caught in the process of processing the choices available to him.
But that’s exactly what happened on Tuesday night in the Lakers’ one-point loss to the Magic.
On an inbounds play with the Lakers trailing the Magic, 110–109, Dončić came off a Deandre Ayton screen to break free from Orlando’s lanky defenders.
He caught the ball a few feet behind the 3-point line before squaring his body to the basket with space between him and the closest defender, with just over six seconds left in the game.
And then there was a pause.
“I know I was open, but I just thought I was a little bit far,” Dončić explained. “Tried to take one dribble closer.”
Dončić took the dribble, but by the time he did, the space he initially created was evaporating, and soon about to get filled with Anthony Black and Jonathan Isaac’s arms.
A few more seconds ticked by before Dončić threw a pass to LeBron James, who had time to take a 27-foot turnaround, fading 3-pointer that hit off the backboard before coming off the back of the rim to seal the Lakers’ second straight loss.
“I just saw him open and I didn’t want to lose the ball,” Dončić said. “We didn’t have timeouts. [But] I shouldn’t have picked up the ball. I should have attacked. That’s on me.”
James said the Lakers executed the play correctly even though they didn’t get the shot they wanted.
“I’m not sure, obviously you have to ask Luka what he saw on that, but I thought he had a good look,” James said. “It looked like he kinda just lost his balance. Didn’t have a rhythm with the ball, whatever the case may be. And it kinda allowed them to get back in front of him. And I was kind of off-balance when he gave it to me. I thought he had a great look.”
So did most of the arena, with many surprised Dončić passed up the opportunity to take the game-winning shot.
And it was even more surprising to hear Dončić, who regularly takes what would be difficult shots for most players, say that he felt he was a little far away from the basket.
Dončić acknowledged not being in rhythm may have also played a role in his decision making.
He shot 8 of 24 from the field, including 2 of 10 on 3s, against the Magic. Dončić also shot 4 of 9 on free throws.
“Maybe a little bit,” Dončić said. “I thought [there] was more time. It was, what, six, seven seconds? It was enough time to get a better look, try to drive the ball, so that’s why I picked [up my dribble].”
Ironically, Tuesday was one of Dončić’s better passing games of the season.
He recorded a season-high 15 assists and only turned the ball over twice. The Lakers are now 15–4 in the games Dončić has recorded double-digit assists this season.
But Tuesday night will be remembered for the surprising pass he made.
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