Lakers Run Out Of Gas In 114-105 Loss To Magic
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- Tobias Harris had 28 points and a career-high 20 rebounds to lift the Orlando Magic to a 114-105 victory over the obviously fatigued Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night.
Arron Afflalo added 23 points and Jameer Nelson scored 22 as the Magic won for only the second time in their last 14 games. Rookie Victor Oladipo had 15 points, 12 rebounds and five assists.
Pau Gasol led Los Angeles with 21 points and 10 rebounds. The Lakers, playing the sixth game of a seven-game road trip, got 19 points and 14 assists from Kendall Marshall and 17 points from Jodie Meeks, but ran out of gas in the third quarter.
The Lakers led 65-55 with 9:27 left in the third quarter, but Orlando finished the period on a 36-15 run to seize control of the game. The Magic held the Lakers scoreless the last 3:30 of the quarter, scoring the final 11 points to take a 91-80 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Lakers scored the first six points of the fourth period to cut the deficit to 91-86, but that was close as they would come. Orlando responded with an 8-0 run and never let the Lakers closer than six points the rest of the game.
Harris had a double-double in the first half with 17 points and 13 rebounds, but it wasn't enough to give Orlando an advantage.
Los Angeles countered with Marshall, who handed out 10 assists and scored seven points when the Lakers took advantage of shoddy Magic ballhandling to squeeze out a 55-53 lead. Los Angeles converted on all seven Orlando turnovers, getting 14 points off the giveaways and shooting 46.7 percent for the half.
When the Magic did hold on to the ball, they didn't have much problem with the porous Lakers' defense. After shooting 60 percent in the first period, and still trailing 32-28, Orlando used a 13-0 run to overtake the Lakers. Kyle O'Quinn's slam dunk off a feed from Oladipo ended the run and gave Orlando a 43-38 advantage.
Gasol finally ended the Lakers drought, scoring on a pair of driving layups and Meeks followed with a 3-pointer to help the Lakers go in at halftime with a 55-53 lead.
The second half started out as a 3-point shooting contest from every angle possible. The two teams combined to hit eight of 11 shots from beyond the arc. Orlando added two traditional 3-point plays and Afflalo made all three free throws after being fouled behind the arc.
The Lakers made their first two bombs of the period on their way to a 65-55, but ran out of energy at that point and couldn't keep up with Orlando the rest of the way.
The Magic led 91-80 going into the fourth quarter and though the Lakers scored the first six points to cut the deficit to 91-86 on a fastbreak layup by Young, that was as close as they would get.
Orlando scored eight straight points, the last two on a fastbreak by Oladipo, that pushed the Magic lead to 98-86 with 7:23 left in the game.
NOTES: The Lakers have given up 100 points or more in 11 straight games. ... Magic C Nikola Vucevic missed his 10th straight game with a concussion. ... The Magic outrebounded Los Angeles 51-40. The Magic are 0-21 in games in which they were outrebounded. ... Marshall is averaging 11.8 assists in the 12 games he has started.
