"They fouled and we didn't": LeBron James breaks silence on Lakers' free throw disparity with nonchalant response
LeBron James had a dismissive response when asked about the team's whopping 23 attempts from the free throw line in the fourth quarter in their narrow 132-131 win over the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday. Anthony Davis, who recorded 41 points to steer LA to the win, had a perfect 11-of-11 from the charity stripe. With the massive amount of free throws, the Lakers were in the headlines again with the disparity. At one stage, the Lakers were 16/20 from the free-throw line while Toronto was awarded two.
When asked about the free-throw calls, James had a rather simple response:
LeBron on the free-throw discrepancy in the 4th quarter: "I feel like they fouled, and we didn't."
Overall, LA attempted 36 free throws while Toronto took 13. In the 36, Davis was 13-of-14 and LeBron James was 4-of-6. Taurean Prince and Cam Reddish were 1-of-2, while Austin Reaves was 4-of-4 from the line. While the buzz on social media was mixed, James and the Lakers will be happy to take the win that puts them back at .500.
There were a significant number of whistles in the fourth quarter, each of which resulted in Davis heading to the free-throw line. The Raptors kept clawing their way back into the game, and with a four-point lead with seconds to go, Pascal Siakam beat the buzzer with a 3, but it wasn't enough as LA, ahead by one, won the matchup.
LeBron James has a quiet day, but Anthony Davis' monster night propels Lakers to win
After not getting a shot in for a major portion of the first quarter, LeBron James heated up to end with 22 points, 12 rebounds and five assists. However, the night belonged to Anthony Davis who ended with 41 points of which 20 of them came in the final stretch. He had 11 boards and six assists as the Lakers won narrowly by a point.
Speaking to the media in the aftermath of the win, Davis was a picture of relief:
"We'll take it, we can do better, but obviously for us, that's a big-time win. All our guys came in and did a heck of a job. There's going to be a lot of attention on me and 'Bron and that's going to give the others a lot of open shots and open plays. We've just got to keep feeding them the ball, keep trusting them to keep making plays."
For Toronto, Scottie Barnes led from the front with 26 points, while Pascal Siakam finished with 25 and R.J. Barrett had 23 to show for. LeBron James and the Lakers will now get a day's rest before they host the Phoenix Suns for the fourth time this season. They have had the better of the side in all of the three contests so far.