LOS ANGELES — Seven lead changes in the final four minutes. The Lakers held two double-digit leads and couldn’t hold on in a 110-109 loss to the Orlando Magic on Monday night, a disappointing end to an eight-game homestand that spanned the All-Star break.
Luka Doncic passed up an open, albeit deep, 3-point look before dribbling and dishing off, forcing LeBron James to attempt a difficult fadeaway 3-point attempt from the wing in the final seconds. James’ shot was long, bouncing off the rim and falling into the hands of Deandre Ayton, whose floater went in but after the buzzer had sounded.
The Lakers nearly escaped with a victory. After James dunked for a 109-108 lead off a Luka Doncic inbounds pass with 26 seconds left, Ayton, the Lakers’ 7-footer, blocked a 3-point shot by Orlando guard Anthony Block with the Lakers ahead by one late, but Magic forward Wendell Carter Jr. came up with the rebound in a sea of Lakers and converted what proved to be the game-winning layup with 6.7 seconds left.
The Lakers (34-23) finished 4-4 on their homestand and suffered their first loss of this season when holding the lead after three quarters (25-1). They have fallen into sixth place in the Western Conference while repeatedly failing to beat playoff-caliber teams.
Doncic just missed a triple-double with 22 points, 15 assists and nine rebounds, but he struggled with his shot all night (8 for 24 overall, 2 for 10 from 3-point range). James and Ayton scored 21 apiece for the Lakers, while Austin Reaves scored all 18 of his points in the second half.
During a back-and-forth fourth quarter, Doncic funneled a pass to Rui Hachimura in the corner, who made just his second 3-pointer of the game for a 106-103 lead with 2:14 remaining. Outside of James’ late layup, it was the Lakers penultimate lead of the game.
Paolo Banchero nearly single-handedly kept the Magic in the game with a game-high 36 points, but it was Orlando guard Desmond Bane who put the Lakers in danger. The Lakers led by 11 points in the first half and 12 in the second half – the latter after Reaves made a jumper early in the third quarter to begin a 10-0 Laker run – but Desmond Bane tied the score at 81 before giving Orlando (31-26) a handful of two-point leads in the fourth quarter.
Reaves tied the score twice, once with a 3-pointer and a floater through contact for a three-point play to knot the score at 90 and 93, respectively.
The Lakers led early. Near the end of the first quarter, Doncic leapt for a rebound on a missed jumper from Carter. He controlled the ball but ended up on the floor after Magic forward Moritz Wagner’s fingers raked his eyes. Doncic writhed below the basket, spending a stoppage of 2-plus minutes with a Lakers trainer kneeling beside him. He had the last laugh, sinking a 3-pointer on the following possession for a 30-21 lead, but he spent the start of the second quarter in the locker room receiving treatment for the incidental eye poke.
During the second quarter, Doncic and Reaves sent alley-oop feeds Ayton’s way for a pair of dunks. Ayton scored 13 in the second period.
Ayton, who grabbed 13 rebounds, was a hot topic on Monday afternoon in El Segundo without speaking to the media. Coach JJ Redick faced a handful of questions about what Ayton, facing season-lows in nearly every statistical category, needed to do to improve. His teammates shared their views on how the former No. 1 draft pick was adjusting to a new role in Los Angeles.
Ayton is never asked to lead the Lakers in scoring, like he once was in Phoenix. Nor is he expected to, yet he led the Lakers (34-23) with 17 points at halftime on Tuesday, his highest first-half total this season. He feasted on mismatches – something Redick said Ayton needed to improve on, exploiting his size when switched on to smaller players – against a Jalen Suggs-less Magic team.
His 21-point night was his best output since he scored 28 against the Washington Wizards on Jan. 30.
Bane scored 22 points and Carter finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds for the Magic.
More to come on this story.
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