It was déjà vu in a different city for the Lakers, who jumped out to an early double-digit lead over Orlando, only to watch it slip into a loss for the second time in eight days.
The purple and gold trailed by as many as 16 points, but managed to tie the game in the final minute before the Magic finally closed out a 108-104 contest.
“Defensively we kind of broke down and the energy level was a little lower than our expectations,” said LeBron James, who led L.A. with 24 points and seven assists. “And they took advantage of that.”
The Lakers (11-8) led by 10 at the end of the first quarter, which saw Kyle Kuzma drop 13 of his 21 points.
But Orlando (10-10) took control in the middle quarters, outscoring L.A. by nine in the second and 16 in the third.
“There were some turnovers, some selfish plays, a lack of energy on our part,” coach Luke Walton said.” A little bit of all those things suck at the core of what we try to do.”
The Lakers turned to a small-ball lineup — Brandon Ingram, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Svi Mykhailiuk, Josh Hart and Kuzma — that helped turn the tide, as Ingram hit all four of his shots in the fourth quarter, scoring 10 of his 17 points.
Still, L.A. trailed by 10 with 6:30 left before it turned to the best player in the league.
LeBron — who had 24 points and seven assists — pulled up for a deep 3-pointer to start off a 14-4 run, during which he also provided two electrifying fast-break dunks.
LeBron tied the game at 104 with a pair of free throws, but the Lakers went scoreless over the final two minutes. Caldwell Pope and James both missed quality 3-point attempts before Orlando’s Terrence Ross took the lead on a driving layup.
James then attacked the basket, drew three defenders and kicked out to KCP for an open 3, but it was off the mark, sealing Orlando’s win.
Caldwell-Pope shot just 1-of-7 on the night, but was excellent defensively, coming up with a career-high five steals. JaVale McGee was even more impactful on that end, registering seven blocks — the most by a Laker since Andrew Bynum matched that total in 2007.
“[McGee] covered up some of our mistakes,” Walton said. “He’s done that for us all season.”
Indeed, the reason McGee had so many chances at rejections was because the Lakers had trouble containing Orlando’s penetration. With McGee having to drop back to protect the rim, Nikola Vucevic was able to let it fly from deep, canning three 3-pointers on his way to 31 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists.
It was nothing new for Vucevic, who scored 36 points against the Lakers back in Orlando.
“He’s had our number this year,” James said. “Very good player, can do it inside and outside.”
Notes
The Lakers shot just 20-of-31 on free throws (64.5 percent). … Lance Stephenson had 13 points and four 3-pointers, while Lonzo Ball tallied nine points and 10 rebounds. … The Lakers celebrated the legacy of late broadcaster Chick Hearn, who would have turned 102 on Tuesday. … The game was played six hours earlier than usual, tipping off at 12:30 PT. … DJ Mustard and Chris Bosh were among the sold-out crowd.