Coming off a disappointing loss to the rival Boston Celtics, the Los Angeles Lakers looked to get back on track on Tuesday night when they welcomed the Orlando Magic to town.<\/p>\n
Both of these teams have failed to meet expectations this season in a way, but the Magic kept fighting all night and came away with a 110-109 victory over the Lakers.<\/p>\n
LeBron James got off to a great start in this one as he had 10 early points, including a pair of 3-pointers. After a three-point play by Luka Doncic, the Lakers took a 17-10 lead.<\/p>\n
Doncic got hit in the face by Moe Wagner and appeared to be in some pain but was eventually able to stay in the game. In true Luka fashion, he fired up a triple on the next possession and made it. Doncic joined James in double figures in the first quarter as the Lakers led 33-25.<\/p>\n
Wendell Carter Jr. was the only Magic player that could get anything going offensively as he tried to keep the game from getting out of reach early. Tristan da Silva gave him some help with back-to-back 3s, but Deandre Ayton got going inside with five straight points for the Lakers to answer.<\/p>\n
Both teams were sloppy to end the first half as the scoring came to a halt with the Lakers taking a 56-53 lead into the halftime locker room.<\/p>\n
After a rare scoreless first half, Austin Reaves led a 9-0 run to begin the third quarter, scoring seven points and throwing a lob to James.<\/p>\n
The Lakers’ offense got stagnant from there, however, missing the opportunity to continue extending the lead. Paolo Banchero finally got going for Orlando with a 17-point third quarter, getting their double-digit deficit back to a manageable margin at 80-79 going into the fourth.<\/p>\n
The Magic opened up the first quarter with back-to-back buckets, regaining the lead for the first time in a while. With things starting to slip away for the Lakers, Reaves hit a big triple and then had a three-point play to tie it up once again.<\/p>\n
With both teams continuing to exchange buckets, the game was tied at 98 with around five minutes to play.<\/p>\n
Doncic did not have a good shooting night, but he hit back-to-back jumpers down the stretch for L.A. He then found Rui Hachimura for a 3 to go back ahead, although Banchero responded with an and-one.<\/p>\n
With the Lakers up two in the final minute, Desmond Bane drilled a triple to put Orlando back in front.<\/p>\n
After a timeout, Doncic found a cutting James for a dunk. The Magic had one more look, and Carter had a putback after a missed shot by Banchero.<\/p>\n
That put Orlando up by one with 6.7 seconds to play, and James missed a fadeaway at the buzzer to secure the victory for the Magic.<\/p>\n
The Lakers will now hit the road for division matchups with the Phoenix Suns and Golden State Warriors on Thursday and Saturday, respectively, before returning home and hosting the Sacramento Kings on Sunday.<\/p>\n