On a night when offense came at a premium for the Lakers, Luke Kennard stepped up when it mattered most.
Kennard buried a game-winning 3-pointer with 0.6 seconds left to give the Lakers a 105-104 win and extend their win streak to nine games.
LA flew out of the gate to start the game, scoring 37 points in the first 10 minutes of the game. However, they scored only 68 over the next 38 minutes of the contest, though it was exactly as many as they needed to win the game.
LA shot 44.7% from the field, but a frigid 22.6% from the 3-point line. They also were outscored 21-16 on second chance points, an issue that plagued them at various stretches during the game.
The Lakers opened the game with a barrage of baskets at the rim. Deandre Ayton threw down an alley-oop, LeBron James turned a steal into a breakaway slam and Luka Dončić finished a fastbreak layup all inside the first minute.
After the officials spent a handful of possessions forgetting the rules of basketball, Luka answered a couple of Orlando threes with makes of his own. Behind some further impressive shotmaking from Luka, LA opened up a 30-20 lead after an 8-0.
While a three from the Magic stopped the run briefly, Luka did not slow down. Austin put an unexpected and emphatic exclamation point on a 15-3 run with a huge dunk in transition.
To that point, LA was shooting 16-21 from the field in the period. Some offensive rebounds from Goga Bitadze helped pull the Magic back into the game as they trailed 37-30 going into the second.
The Orlando run carried into the next quarter as a 16-2 tied the game at 39-39. Desmond Bane’s steal led to a pair of free throws for the guard, who connected on both to give the Magic their first lead of the game three minutes into the frame. Redick was eventually forced to take a timeout after a Jevon Carter jumper gave them a 43-39 lead.
Collective amnesia swept over the Lakers as they forgot how to play the sport, allowing Orlando to keep piling on. Following another Carter 3-pointer to put the hosts up six, the Magic reserves were outscoring LA’s 27-10.
Capping off a truly awful first half from the officials, Marcus Smart was handed a questionable technical foul, allowing the Magic to stem off a Lakers run as they tried to get back into the game.
A couple of baskets at the rim from Austin Reaves in the final 35 seconds closed the Lakers’ deficit to just 65-62 heading into the locker room.
The halftime break allowed the Lakers to reset and regain their offense, leading them to retake the lead early in the third. The opening minutes of the quarters were spent with the two sides trading baskets with neither side able to get a foothold in front.
LeBron willed the Lakers ahead on a series of fastbreak plays. Across three consecutive possessions, LeBron either scored in transition or drew a foul, leading to six points as part of a 12-0 run that gave LA a 78-70 lead.
As was the case in the first half, the Lakers immediately allowed a run to let Orlando take the lead back following a Wendell Carter and-one, putting them ahead 81-79.
The rest of the quarter saw the Magic in firm control. Luka struggled from the field, shooting just 1-9 from the field in the period.
The biggest Luka development, though, came in the final minutes when he started trash talking with Bitadze at the free throw line before the two were given a double technical. That was the 16th technical of the year for Luka, meaning he will be suspended for the Lakers’ game against the Pistons on Monday.
It was a pretty fitting cap to a pretty putrid quarter as LA went into the fourth down 87-82.
After Reaves opened the frame with a turnover, Bane’s layup gave Orlando its largest lead of the game. The Lakers got on the board with a lob from LeBron to Hayes, but then the latter followed that up by missing a pair of free throws a few possessions later, an encapsulation of the team’s inability to build momentum in the second half.
The team’s defense was keeping them attached to the Magic. With no one else able to find a rhythm offensively, Reaves finally stepped up with some big shots before a pair of free throws pushed them ahead 92-91 with 6:31 remaining.
Orlando moved back ahead in an ugly fourth quarter offensively for both teams, inching ahead 98-95 after two free throws from Paolo Banchero with 3:18 left.
An acrobatic finish on a driving layup for LeBron closed the deficit to one point with just over two minutes to go. Banchero responded with his own acrobatic finish around Deandre Ayton to restore the three-point lead.
Luka got his second field goal of the half with a floater, but Wendell Carter Jr. answered wit ha free throw line jumper with just over a minute remaining.
A step-back three from Luka missed as the Lakers came up empty on the next possession. Banchero drew a foul on the other end and knocked down both free throws to make it a five-point game with 50 seconds left.
Reaves raced downcourt off the make for a layup to make it a one-possession game again. The Lakers forced a miss from Bane and corralled the rebound. Luka eventually found Reaves for an open 3-pointer that missed, but Ayton tracked down the rebound while drawing a foul with 5.5 seconds left.
The big man knocked down the first, but his intentional missed free throw attempt did not get the bounce Reaves’ did last weekend and the Magic grabbed the rebound with six seconds left.
All of that set up a chaotic ending. Orlando’s ensuing in-bound was knocked out of bounds off Banchero by LeBron, giving the Lakers a chance to tie the game or take the lead with just over 4.7 seconds remaining.
LA got LeBron open on the ATO, but was blocked — and fouled, though it wasn’t called — on the play, giving the Lakers another chance under their own basket with 2.6 seconds left. This time, Kennard was the one left open and he buried the game-winner.
Luka’s big first half led him to 33 points to go with eight assists and five rebounds. Austin picked up the slack in the fourth to finish with 26 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Aside from a stretch in the third quarter, it was a quiet night from LeBron, who tallied just 12 points along with six rebounds and four assists with three steals as well.
Kennard had 13 points off the bench while Jaxson Hayes had a strong showing with eight points and seven rebounds to go along with three blocks.
The Lakers will next be in action on Monday when they travel to Detroit. Tip-off is slated for 4 p.m. PT.
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