Lonzo Ball Continues Strong Run of Form as Lakers Beat Magic
The Los Angeles Lakers are running out of time to be considered playoff contenders this season, but they have found their stride entering the stretch run and escaped with a 108-107 win against the Orlando Magic on Wednesday at Staples Center.
Brook Lopez played the role of hero with two go-ahead free throws with 0.6 seconds remaining, and the Magic lost their opportunity at a game-winner when the officials called a jump ball after the clock began early on their final possession. The last 0.6 seconds ticked off before an Orlando player touched the inbounds pass, and the officials watched replay review before deciding to call a jump ball.
NBA Official provided an explanation:
Los Angeles is now 6-1 in its last seven games. It was 6.5 games back of the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference entering play and remained within shouting distance with 18 games remaining on its schedule.
The veteran Lopez led the way on offense with 27 points, while youngsters Lonzo Ball (16 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals) and Kyle Kuzma (20 points, 10 rebounds and three steals) provided across-the-board contributions.
The Lakers didn't make it easy on themselves after they appeared to seize control in the fourth quarter.
Los Angeles responded to Bismack Biyombo's game-tying dunk with just more than nine minutes remaining with an 11-0 run that featured four different players scoring, but Orlando came roaring back and took the lead with five seconds left on an Aaron Gordon basket.
Lopez drew the foul on Nikola Vucevic with the game hanging in the balance, though, and rescued the home team.
The 11-0 spurt prior to the nail-biting finish was indicative of the overall balanced effort from the home team, as six different players scored in double figures for the Purple and Gold. It was much needed, too, since Brandon Ingram was out with a groin injury and Josh Hart was out with a broken hand.
Ball was one of those players in double figures, as he continues to demonstrate his development on offense. While a knee injury kept him out of 15 straight games in January and February, he shot 58.6 percent from three-point range in the previous five contests coming into Wednesday's matchup and is taking open looks instead of forcing the issue.
He started 1-of-7 from the field but was more aggressive in the second half. While he ultimately struggled from deep (4-of-13), he drilled three straight three-pointers at one point in the second half and didn't hesitate to facilitate when necessary.
With Ball creating on the outside and Lopez going to work on the blocks, driving lanes were open for Kuzma to rack up his points on the way to a double-double. He wasn't the only Lakers player to accomplish the feat, as Julius Randle added 12 points and 11 rebounds while battling against a solid Orlando frontcourt.
From the Magic's perspective, it was another abysmal performance on defense for a squad ranked 27th in the league in defensive rating, per NBA.com.
That doesn't take away from the work Gordon and Vucevic did on the other end.
Gordon was able to take advantage of matchup problems when the Lakers—who were depleted on the wing without Ingram and Hart—had to play multiple bigs at the same time for stretches. He used his athleticism to get to the basket with either a quick first step or back cuts, and he wasted little time scoring 12 points in the first quarter.
He also extended his attack to three-point range (4-of-6) and finished with 28 points and 14 boards.
Vucevic added 24 points, 12 rebounds and six assists as the only other Orlando player to score more than 11 points.
Orlando's bigs will look for more help Friday when they play the Sacramento Kings on the road, while the Lakers will turn their attention to a road matchup against the Denver Nuggets on the same day.
