Aussie Daniels rues missed shots in NBA

Australian NBA rookie Dyson Daniels will rue two missed free-throw attempts that opened the door for the Los Angeles Lakers to snatch a 120-117 overtime win over his New Orleans Pelicans.

Taken with the eighth pick of the most recent draft, Daniels has impressed with limited opportunities in his first NBA campaign and had the chance to secure victory for the Pels when he stepped to the stripe with two seconds to play on Thursday (AEDT) in LA.

New Orleans were up by three points at the time so by making either attempt, Daniels would have given his side a big enough buffer to seal a win.

Daniels had sunk both his NBA free-throw attempts before Thursday but hit neither against the Lakers, who scrambled up the court and sent the game into overtime with a three-pointer from Matt Ryan as the buzzer sounded.

Once in over-time, the Lakers were the more accurate of the two sides and secured only their second win from seven attempts this season.

"This is definitely a growth moment for some of our young guys," Pelicans coach Willie Green said.

"We didn't deserve to win that game. 

"We can't wait until the second half to start to decide that we want to play and that's what we did."

Australian Matisse Thybulle's hopes of locking down a regular starting spot with the Philadelphia 76ers could be hampered by an ankle injury suffered in their 121-111 loss to the Washington Wizards.

Thybulle had limited time on the floor to begin the season, playing only six minutes across Philadelphia's first five games before finding himself with a bigger role over the past week. 

With teammates Joel Embiid (illness) and De'Anthony Melton (back injury) unavailable for the clash with the Wizards, coach Doc Rivers gave the Olympic bronze-medal winning Boomer his first start of the Sixers' campaign.

His chance to impress was cut short, though; Thybulle went back to the locker room after slipping over while setting a screen midway through the third quarter.

The 25-year-old could walk unassisted but played no further part in the game.

"I think it's an ankle sprain," Rivers said of Thybulle's injury.

"But I'm not positive on that."

Fellow Australian Matthew Dellavedova had his best game since joining the Sacramento Kings, who fell victim to a Tyler Herro three-pointer in the final three seconds against the Miami Heat.

Prior to the 110-107 loss, the Boomers guard had only made it onto the floor in two of six games to start his first season with the Kings. 

But a knee injury to star guard De'Aaron Fox opened the door for Dellavedova to play increased minutes and coach Mike Brown favoured him as a back court option in the fourth quarter when the game was in the balance.

After Herro's three, the Australian put his side in position to equalise in the final two seconds with a pin-point inbound pass to Domantas Sabonis up the other end of the court.

But Sabonis was called for an offensive foul as he went to shoot and the Heat held on.

Elsewhere, the Milwaukee Bucks remained the only unbeaten side in the NBA after notching their seventh straight win against the Detroit Pistons, who dropped to 2-7.

Milwaukee's marquee man Giannis Antetokounmpo finished with game-high figures in rebounds (12) and points (32).