Everything felt heavy Tuesday night inside Crypto.com Arena. Not loud. Not electric. Just heavy.
TheLakersled the Magic for nearly 90 percent of the game. They built up multiple 12-point cushions. They shot over 48 percent from the field. Made more threes. Blocked more shots. On paper, it should have been a comfortable win.
Instead the paper will read110-109 Magic. Another disappointing loss by the Lakers to a more physical team.
“I thought we played well enough to win tonight,” said Lakers head coach J.J. Redick. “We played hard enough to win.”
This wasn’t a loss to juggernauts like the Thunder or Spurs from the start of their homestand. This was an Orlando team hovering above .500 without Jalen Suggs and Franz Wagner — two of their stars.
The Lakers were rested,they were at home. They were favored. This was supposed to be their bounce back game after anembarrassing loss to the Celticswith formerlegends putting them on blast.
Instead, it was another entry in the growing catalog of evidence that theseLakers are not contenders. They are pretenders wearing expensive clothes and jewelry.
“We need to be more consistent,” said Luka Doncic who finished with 22 points and 15 assists. “We should have won a couple more games [on this homestand].”
The Lakers had no answer for Paolo Banchero, who has struggled to regain his All-Star form this season. Nonetheless, he looked like an All-Star Tuesday night, bullying his way to 36 points like a man crashing a private party. He attacked a defense that continues to talk toughness but rarely delivers it.
Orlando outscored the Lakers 58-50 in the paint and out-rebounded them 47-39. They surrendered 12 offensive rebounds, including two on the game-winning putback by Wendell Carter Jr.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
