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LeBron explains decision to pass instead of taking late shot in loss to Magic
LeBron James explained his decision to turn down a late shot for the Los Angeles Lakers against the Orlando Magic.
Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is not bothered by his decision to pass up a potential game-tying shot on Sunday.
The 33-year-old received the ball near the paint with less than 20 seconds to play and his team trailing the Orlando Magic 106-104.
But, instead of driving to the basket or attempting a short jumper, James sent the ball out to a wide open Kentavious Caldwell-Pope behind the three-point line.
Caldwell-Pope, however, missed the shot and Los Angeles went on to fall 108-104.
James explained his decision to kick it out to Caldwell-Pope when he met with reporters after the game.
"I've always got a chance at a shot," James said (via ESPN). "That's not even a question, but you attract so many eyes on defense, you know, I had a good shot but he had a great shot … And you live with the results."
Lakers coach Luke Walton said the team will absolutely live with that type of shot at the end of a game.
"KCP's one of our best shooters," Walton said. "We'll take that, that's not why we lost the game because we missed those.
"You hit those and you can find a way to steal that game back, but it was the second and third quarter why we lost."
The loss to Orlando snapped the Lakers' three-game winning streak. James tallied a team-high 24 points and seven assists in the game.