Orlando Magic Suffers First Loss Of The Season To Los Angeles Lakers
After going back and forth with one of the Western Conference's best teams, the Orlando Magic lost to the Los Angeles Lakers 106-103 for its first loss of the season on a Monday night game that bled into the wee hours of Tuesday morning at Crypto.com Arena.
The fourth quarter was nip and tuck throughout, with neither team leading by more than a couple of baskets. Both teams exchanged leads in the final two minutes, then a D'Angelo Russell 3-point shot gave the Lakers the lead once again with 1:43 left to play.
Orlando (2-1) got the ball with 20 seconds left in the game, trailing 104-103, and Suggs drove to the basket but missed the potential go-ahead layup. Russell was fouled on the ensuing possession and made both free throws with eight seconds left to play.
After a Magic timeout, Franz Wagner had a potential game-tying 3-pointer blocked by LeBron James, and then Suggs had one more chance to tie the game, but couldn't make it as time expired.
The Magic bench put together another strong performance, with Cole Anthony scoring 15 points and Gary Harris scoring a team-high 17 points, including making five three-pointers.
Altogether, Orlando's bench outscored the Lakers' bench 39-18.
Cole Anthony has scored in double-figures in the Orlando Magic's first three games.
© Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Russell led the Lakers (2-2) with 28 points, and Anthony Davis had a double-double with 26 points and 15 rebounds.
After the game was tied up at 70-70 in the third quarter, Orlando got rolling again in the second half with a 10-2 run. Los Angeles responded with a run of its own by scoring 10 straight points to close out the third quarter and lead 81-80 heading into the final stanza.
The Magic trailed by as many as 11 points in the second quarter and was down 40-30 with 8:56 left in the first half. Orlando responded with a 28-14 run to close the quarter and led the Lakers 58-54 at halftime.
Orlando's second-quarter surge was led by Harris, who scored 14 points. He shot 5-5, including four 3-pointers. Jalen Suggs also had a strong first half with 12 points and made a stepback 3-pointer right before halftime.
Paolo Banchero and Wagner only combined for six shots and eight points in the first half and in total, finished with 25 points. Wagner scored 16, while Banchero had nine and shot 4-14 from the field.
Orlando will be right back at the Crypto.com arena on Tuesday when they face the Los Angeles Clippers (2-1) at 10:30 p.m. ET.
