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With just 11 games remaining this season, the LA Lakers are still sitting outside the Western Conference play-in picture. This means that every game will be crucial for LA moving forward. Ahead of their game on Sunday night against Orlando, Lakers coach Darvin Ham spoke with reporters. Ham touched on the sense of urgency that the Lakers will need to play with moving forward:
“They understand what’s at stake,” Ham said.
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The Lakers (34-37, 11th in the West) have lost two straight games and three of their last four. This includes Friday’s gut-wrenching buzzer-beating loss to Dallas (36-35, sixth in the West). It also included a loss to the lowly Houston Rockets (18-53, 15th in the West).
On Sunday, the Lakers will take on a struggling Magic team (29-42, 13th in the East), which has lost five of its last seven games. The game should provide LA with an excellent opportunity to end its two-game losing streak.
LA is only half a game behind the 10th-placed Utah Jazz (34-36) for the final play-in spot in the West. In addition, only four games have separated the Lakers from the fourth-seeded Phoenix Suns (38-33).
Darvin Ham on Lakers’ loss to Dallas on Friday
As for the LA Lakers' heartbreaking 111-110 loss to Dallas on Friday night, Darvin Ham attributed that to poor free-throw shooting. This came as the team shot just 19-for-31 (61.3%) at the line.
“We make our free throws, we're probably not having this conversation,” Ham said.
Lakers star forward Anthony Davis, who missed a clutch free throw for LA, echoed a similar sentiment following the loss:
“We fought hard to get back into the game, so that's a tough one,” Davis said.
“You've got to be able to win basketball games, whether it's at the free throw line, or me making the right read defensively,” Davis continued.
The Lakers will likely need to shoot much better at the free-throw line against Orlando on Sunday . However, some improvement should be expected as the team is shooting 77.8% at the line for the season.
Watch: Maxi Kleber knocks down a massive buzzer-beater to seal the game for the Dallas Mavericks
