The Los Angeles Lakers were hoping to keep things rolling on Thursday night, looking for their seventh straight win while hosting the Orlando Magic. It marked the debut of the Lakers’ 2024-25 City Edition uniforms and court.
The Lakers are undefeated at home this season but were unable to keep that and their win streak going, losing to the Magic 119-118 on a game-winner by Franz Wagner.
Cam Reddish had five early points, including a corner triple, to help the Lakers jump out to a quick 12-7 lead. While the Magic got hot from deep from there and took the lead, Anthony Davis started to go to work inside to keep up his strong start to the season.
Overall, not much defense was played in the first quarter by either team and as a result the Lakers took a 38-36 lead into the second.
The second quarter started with a pair of poster dunks as Mo Wagner got the Lakers and then LeBron James immediately responded with one of his own. That got James going a little bit as he immediately went into attack mode.
Also with Mo, Franz Wagner also had a strong first half for the Magic while Jalen Suggs was hot from deep. Orlando had trouble dealing with Davis inside though, and then when Reddish beat the halftime buzzer with another corner 3, the Lakers went into the halftime locker room leading 67-60.
James hit a triple and then had a big block to begin the third quarter. While Dalton Knecht continued his hot streak with a 3-pointer, the Magic were able to keep their strong shooting night going as well. That led to a 13-3 Orlando run to regain the lead before a three-point play by Davis.
The Magic’s zone defense slowed the Lakers down offensively to end the third quarter, resulting in a slim 89-88 deficit for L.A. going into the fourth.
After the Lakers went down by four, Knecht responded with five quick points to help them regain the lead. James started to take over from there, making three triples in a row to put his team up 105-98. Franz Wagner had an immediate response though as the game stayed close going into the final minutes.
Wagner was a real thorn in the Lakers’ side as he then hit a deep 3 to put his team up by one. James got an offensive rebound and scored on the other end though to regain the lead. He then found Davis for a dunk, but Wagner drilled a deep triple to out his team up one with 2.5 seconds to play.
Davis, who missed some key free throws late, then missed at the buzzer as L.A. would go on to suffer the disappointing loss.
What’s next for the Lakers
The Lakers will face an even tougher test on Saturday night when they host the Denver Nuggets, who of course eliminated from the playoffs each of the last two seasons.
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