The Los Angeles Lakers’ eight-game winning streak was in serious jeopardy on Saturday against the Orlando Magic with them trailing by two with 2.6 seconds left. On the previous play, LeBron James got fouled on a potential layup by Paolo Banchero, but it was not called.
However, it was Lakers’ ball and they still had a chance to tie or even win. Luke Kennard sprang open at the left wing for the game-winner with two defenders crashing to prevent James from cutting to the basket and when the Lakers star saw who got the ball, he knew it was going in.
“When I turned and saw who the ball was in his hands on the wide open three, I pretty much knew it was cash,” James said on Spectrum SportsNet. “But obviously, you have to see it go through and obviously, I had a super quick reaction right after it. I knew they [Magic] had no timeouts, so we had to get back on defense. At least get a hand up, think it was Luka (Doncic) or AR (Austin Reaves) on (Jalen) Suggs, and we was able to win the game.”
To go from a potential game-altering missed call when James had a chance to tie it to Kennard’s game-winning look was a roller coaster of emotions. While LeBron wasn’t happy about the missed call, he knows it all worked out in the end.
“That’s how it’s supposed to go,” James said. “Missed call, obvious missed call, they missed the call. I mean, it turned out the best for us, we was able to hit a 3. Great play calls by coach St. Jean, JJ (Redick) drew them up on the board and we followed them to a T. Marcus (Smart) made all the reads, obviously Luke nailed it.”
Los Angeles has not had a nine-game winning streak since the 2019-20 season when they went on to win a championship, and perhaps something special is brewing with this team as well.
The Lakers continue to find ways to win in various ways. It felt like Orlando was bound to snap their streak, seeing how physical they played and L.A. could not find any consistent offense, but yet, they somehow found a way to win.
For a role player to step up in a big way as Kennard did with a game-winner is huge, and morale should be at an all-time high in the locker room right now.
LeBron James passes Robert Parish
Lost in the frantic finish was history being made in Orlando with LeBron James breaking the record the most games in NBA history.
He spoke about it after the game, discussing how great his latest accomplishment is in his historic career.
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