When Orlando took down the Lakers by one-point on Feb. 24 at Los Angeles, the Magic needed a game-winning basket from Wendell Carter Jr. with less than sevens seconds left in the game.

During LA’s lone trip of the regular season to Central Florida on Saturday night, Jamahl Mosley‘s squad fought back-and-forth late again with the Western Conference foe until Luke Kennard hit a buzzer-beating game-winning 3-pointer to secure a 105-104 win.

Inside a rowdy Kia Center that held the second-largest attendance figure in Orlando history (19,597), the Magic had seven different scorers finish in double figures but none reached 20 individual points.

Orlando worked to inbound the ball leading by two with 5.2 seconds left but turned it over. The Magic challenged the call that was in favor of the Lakers but it was unsuccessful. Los Angeles needed two tries to inbound the ball on their end of the court and that’s when Kennard sunk the triple.

Winning its ninth in a row, Los Angeles (46-25) saw Luka Doncic score 33 points and Austin Reaves add 26, but it still turned the ball over 12 points for 18 Magic points. Orlando however, had trouble taking care of the ball, too, when the Lakers scored 22 points off 18 takeaways.

After dropping its fourth in a row, the Magic (38-32) remain at home they host the Pacers on Monday.

Starting 5

Carter Jr. returned to the starting lineup after he missed one game due to a left rib mild bruise. Carter’s mobility at his size allowed Orlando’s defense to switch positionally on defense as Los Angeles ran screens for Doncic, something the team does often with Carter regardless of the opponent.

Carter opened alongside regulars Paolo Banchero, Desmond Bane, Jalen Suggs and Tristan da Silva as Orlando continued to operate without Franz Wagner (left high ankle sprain injury management).

As Banchero and Bane got off to a slow start offensively (they scored a combined 14 first-half points on 4-for-13 shooting), it was da Silva who offered the offense help early. He posted a 10-point first quarter by hitting two triples.

But da Silva, who ended with 12 points, found himself in foul trouble when he picked up three before the break and his fourth less than two minutes into the third frame.

Bane kept driving to the basket in the second half, where he eventually found some success. And Banchero (who led Orlando’s starters with 16 points) made important free throws down the stretch of the game, including two that put the Magic up 104-99 with 50 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

Suggs, who picked up his fourth foul halfway through the fourth quarter, also hit two 3-pointers to finish with 14 points alongside six assists.

Bench boost

Whether it was Jevon Carter finding his spots for jumpshots or Goga Bitadze scoring around the basket, Orlando’s bench pieced together a strong showing against the Lakers.

Bitadze did a little bit of everything when he racked up nine points, seven rebounds and five assists but found himself in foul trouble when he picked up his third foul with 48.3 seconds left in the second quarter.

Meanwhile, Carter reached eight first-half points with a pair of 3-pointers.

Playing in his first game since signing a standard NBA contract with the Magic, former two-way forward Jamal Cain also notched eight points in the first half after he knocked down a corner triple.

Still neither Carter (3-for-11) nor Cain (1-for-6) shot the ball well from beyond the arc.

But, for the night, Orlando’s bench outscored LA’s 37-23.

James makes history

In his 23rd year in the NBA, James continues to make league history often when steps on the floor.

Saturday was 1,612th game of James’ career, passing Hall of Famer Robert Parish for the all-time games-played mark.

James, 41, contributed to win with 12 points, six rebounds and four assists in 34 minutes.

Rookie watch

Second-round pick Noah Penda saw 13 minutes of action but only made one shot for two points with three rebounds.

Jase Richardson didn’t see the floor.

The first-round pick spent Friday night on assignment in the G League with Osceola, who he helped take down Delaware at Osceola Heritage Park thanks to 17 points, three rebounds and two assists in 32 minutes (far more than he’d play with Orlando at this point in the season).

Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com