FSM Essential Recap: Lakers vs. Magic – Game 61
The Los Angeles Lakers got off to a hot start, but allowed the Orlando Magic to hang around and keep control for a majority of the game. However, a late game push led by Dennis Schroder ensured a victory for the purple and gold, moving them to 36-25 and giving them breathing room in the conference standings.
Offensively, the Lakers looked unstoppable in the opening minutes. Anthony Davis and Andre Drummond took advantage of a size disparity, combining for 10 points and five rebounds on 5-for-5 shooting in the first five minutes. With 6:48 to go in the first, the Lakers had early control with a 16-9 lead.
As the Lakers cooled off on the scoring end of things, their defense remained active enough to keep them ahead. At the 2:36 mark, the Lakers led 22-16 while holding the Magic to 33.3% from the field. Following a timeout, the Lakers went on a 6-0 run for the rest of the quarter, putting the Magic at a 12-point disadvantage after one.
The Magic finally found a crack in the Lakers defense and exploited it. After scoring 16 points the entire first, they had 15 in less than five minutes in the second and cut the Lakers lead to just seven, 38-31.
The onslaught didn’t stop there for Orlando, as the Lakers simply couldn’t score or get stops, with turnovers defining their second quarter. By the 5:19 mark, the Magic held a slim 42-41 lead after a 26-13 start to the period.
The Lakers continued to struggle with turnovers and getting stops for the rest of the half, allowing the Magic to hold to and extend their lead. Heading into the break, the Lakers trailed 56-50 after two polar opposite quarters.
The Lakers defense appeared to be back on track in the second half. They allowed just five Magic points in the first five minutes. They did a great job at forcing turnovers and capitalizing on them and cut their deficit to 61-60 at the 6:44 mark.
The Magic would not give up their slim lead for the entirety of the third quarter, despite the Lakers best efforts. Going into the fourth and final quarter, both teams were gearing up for a close finish as L.A. trailed 80-79.
The Lakers offense found a rhythm once again at the start of the fourth quarter. Hitting six of their first seven shots — including two Ben McLemore threes — helped put L.A. back in front with a 95-91 advantage. Talen Horton-Tucker also gave L.A. some spark using his ability to drive and finish in the paint.
Dennis Schroder then had himself a 5-0 run to help the Lakers keep their distance. With 3:44 to go in the game, the Lakers had a 102-96 advantage as the two teams entered the final stretch.
Schroder didn’t stop there. He brought his fourth quarter-point total to 11 with a floater, then got a transition assist to Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to bring the Lakers lead to 11. Anthony Davis later iced the game with a corner three to make it 112-100.
Lakers News and Notes:
The Los Angeles Lakers snapped their three-game losing streak on Monday night, overcoming an undermanned Orlando Magic team to earn a 114-103 victory.
Dennis Schroder came up clutch in the fourth quarter with 13 of his 21 points, while Montrezl Harrell uplifted the Lakers in the third to get them back on track. It was a tightly contested game, but Los Angeles did just enough in the closing minutes to earn the much-needed win.
The Lakers looked like they were going to cruise after going up 28-16 in the first quarter, but things fell apart in the second, where they inexplicably allowed the Magic to come back and even take the lead. Head coach Frank Vogel offered a simple solution for the meltdown.
“I think we just took our foot off the gas,” explained Vogel. “Got off to a big lead against a team that has been struggling, and I felt like our guys got complacent. Both sides of the ball, we stopped defending, they made kind of their first 11 shots, and we put them to the line. So that can’t happen. We were fortunate enough to dodge a bullet and get the game back under control, but aside from that second quarter, we played a heck of a basketball game, so pleased to get the W.”
However, Vogel mentioned that the team’s ability to overcome a poor quarter is beneficial for chemistry building. “For sure,” Vogel said. “There’s gonna be ups and downs in games, and certainly we had some coverage letdowns. We got AD and Drum, who haven’t played together much, they’re gonna have some nights where there are situations they’re getting used to, and there’s some other guys that had some breakdowns as well.
“So as far as the game, our group has the mindset to build chemistry every time we’re on the floor and to stay connected and work through that stuff with a positive attitude. That’s what I love about our group, that’s what halftime was about, let’s not panic, let’s just get back to what we do, tighten the screws, and we were able to have a great second half.”
The Lakers are too talented and deep to allow a rebuilding team like Orlando to control the game the entire night, so it was good to see them positively respond after halftime. While they never should have been put in that position, the end result is what matters in this case.
One noticeable difference in their win against the Magic was that the Lakers looked to really get out in transition off misses. Vogel acknowledged this was by design.
“It’s a big point of emphasis to start this trip, honestly,” Vogel said. “We were just look at, we haven’t had any great running games in our previous homestand, and we wanted to get back to generating more offense before the defense is set, getting the ball out of the net, getting it to Dennis, and wings flying so we have guys to advance it up the floor to. And we had some great possessions in the two Dallas games, got even better with it tonight.
“It was definitely an area we felt like we could exploit with the Magic, who have a whole new team. They have more unfamiliarity than anybody, and it’s toughest to work through that stuff in transition defense. So we definitely wanted to run more tonight than usual.”
The Lakers travel to the nations capital on Wednesday to take on the Wizards. Tip-off is at 4:30 pm and the game can be seen on ESPN and on Spectrum SportsNet.
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-Joe Arrigo – Franchise Sports Media
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