LOS ANGELES — The Orlando Magic made all the little plays down the stretch Tuesday night. The Los Angeles Lakers did not.
Paolo Banchero scored 32 points and the Magic erased a late deficit to beat the Lakers 110-109 at Crypto.com Arena, capping a 2-0 road swing through Los Angeles with a gritty, back-and-forth victory.
The Lakers had the ball with a chance to win in the final seconds, but Luka Dončić’s contested look didn’t fall, allowing Orlando to escape with its second win in as many nights in L.A.
“I thought we had a good opportunity,” LeBron James said. “Lu came off clean. I think he felt off balance, but we executed. We didn’t get the shot that we wanted. We did execute it and it doesn’t go down.”
Los Angeles appeared poised to seize control late. After executing a two-for-one sequence in the final minute, the Lakers generated a wide-open 3-pointer for Rui Hachimura that didn’t fall but turned the deflection into a second chance. They capitalized on the ensuing inbounds play, with Austin Reaves freeing James for a basket that briefly put them ahead.
But they couldn’t finish possessions.
“We get a stop, just not able to secure the rebound,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “You go into this game with their size and their strength; you know it’s going to be a rock fight. We lose the scoring opportunity by eight in a one-point game. I think that’s the game. We had more turnovers than them, they got more offensive rebounds than us.”
Orlando’s length and persistence showed up at the most important moment. With under 30 seconds remaining, Anthony Black grabbed a critical offensive rebound in traffic. Wendell Carter Jr. corralled the loose ball and converted inside, giving the Magic the lead for good.
“That rebound he got at the end of the game is part of the winning plays,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said of Black. “He does so many other little small and tangible things that are game changing and game winning plays for us.”
Banchero was the engine. He scored 14 points in the third quarter as the Magic began to consistently attack the paint, forcing the Lakers into rotations and opening clean looks on the perimeter.
“I think in the third quarter I got going,” Banchero said. “I just got comfortable and knew that I was going to be able to have a good night. But I felt good from the tip.”
Orlando stayed poised through a series of momentum swings in the final minutes, answering every Lakers push. When Los Angeles hit a 3 to go up three, the Magic responded. When the Lakers nudged ahead again, Orlando countered with an and-one and a timely jumper.
“We just stuck together,” Banchero said. “We’ve been in a lot of close games this year. I think that experience has helped us a lot just to stay poised.”
The Lakers got a strong first half from Deandre Ayton, who established deep position against Orlando’s switching defense and finished through contact. But Los Angeles struggled to string together stops late.
“Down the stretch, I’m trading too many baskets,” Ayton said. “On the 50/50 balls, we didn’t get them to close out possessions correctly. Loose balls and them converting, even with offensive second chances and hitting us with daggers late in the stretch.”
James said the issue was simple.
“We couldn’t get that two-possession lead,” he said. “It was just like we couldn’t get a stop, a key stop. It cost us all the way until the end.”
Redick insisted his team “played well enough to win,” but acknowledged the margin for error in games like this is razor thin.
Against a young, confident Magic team that keeps maturing in tight moments, one missed rebound — and one missed shot — proved decisive.
