NBA: Crime thriller in L.A.! Lakers stumble again against the Magic

The Los Angeles Lakers have to accept another defeat against the Orlando Magic. In the 108:104 away win (BOXSCORE) of the Magic Nikola Vucevic is once again the outstanding man. The Lakers can’t reward themselves for a late 15-point comeback.

It was an almost textbook start for the Lakers. From the first minute on, the hosts were simply unstoppable, especially in the opposing zone. Thanks to a healthy aggressiveness on both sides, LAL scored 16 of the first 20 points close to the basket and JaVale McGee had 4 blocks in the defense after 6 minutes.

So L.A. took the lead early with 10 points, but Orlando found his way back into the game with the help of a few Terrence Ross threes and made it exciting again. But then came LeBron James. The King held back until the middle of the second quarter, but after a personal 7:0 run he also arrived. He gave the Lakers a little head start again.

However, this did not last too long for two reasons: The Lakers alone managed 15 turnovers in the first 24 minutes, with Nikola Vucevic from downtown on the other side. Orlando had 8 threes at the halftime break, only thanks to a deep LeBron Buzzer Beater from Downtown, L.A. went into the second half with a 52:51 lead.

But even after the break tea, the Magic played much better and more efficient than the Lakers. Orlando started with a 19:6 run into the third quarter, only a three-way from Lonzo Ball (9 points, 10 rebounds) after 8 Lakers misses in a row ended the misery of the home team – at least briefly.

Because it really didn’t get any better for LAL in the aftermath. Vucevic was still unstoppable, even the rest of the Magic team hit high percent. So it went with a 15-point lead (86:71) for Orlando into the final section.

But the Lakers still had life in them. Just defensively the landlords were now more active again, on the other side Brandon Ingram caught a little fire. The 21-year-old scored 10 of his 17 points in the first minutes of the fourth quarter.

After a defensive stop and a transition dark from LeBron, the Lakers were even back to 99:104, shortly after Kentavious Caldwell-Pope sunk a wide open threesome and then the King from the free-throw line for the equalizer just 2 minutes before the end.

But the strong comeback of the Lakers remained without a happy ending. Ross brought the Magic into front with a layup, afterwards KCP from Downtown failed. Orlando got the rebound, pushed the pace and increased the speed to 4 points with only 10,4 seconds by Dunk on the other side. That’s it, that’s it!

Best man in the Magic was once again Vucevic. The 28-year-old gave the Lakers 36 points just over a week ago, this time he scored 31 points, 15 rebounds and 7 assists. Ross also scored 16 points (4/7 three), Aaron Gordon supported his team with 17 points.

On the other side, LeBron was the top scorer of his team (24, 7 assists), Kyle Kuzma made a strong performance with 21 points. But he was also the one who missed it in the last move to shorten it again with a threesome. Moritz Wagner was not used.