LeBron James scored 14 of his 30 points during Los Angeles’ spectacular third quarter, and he added 11 rebounds and 10 assists while the Lakers rolled past the Orlando Magic 106-94 Sunday night for their fifth victory in seven games.
Talen Horton-Tucker scored seven of his 19 points as Los Angeles utterly dominated a close game out of halftime, scoring 23 consecutive points while holding the Magic to 2-for-23 shooting in the third quarter with their field goals scored nearly 10 minutes apart. Los Angeles rode that 36-10 advantage in the third to its second straight win and moved two games above .500 for the first time in four weeks.
Russell Westbrook had 19 points and James secured his 101st career triple-double in the final minutes as the Lakers won their second straight with second-leading scorer Anthony Davis sidelined by left knee soreness. Coach Frank Vogel said examinations of Davis’ knee found it structurally sound, and the team anticipates him returning to action soon.
Cole Anthony scored 21 points for the Magic, who went 0-5 on their West Coast trip despite rallying in the fourth quarter.
Franz Wagner added 20 points and seven rebounds, but the Magic responded to Saturday night’s last-second loss to the Clippers with a solid first half and a catastrophic third quarter in their 12th loss in 13 games. Orlando dropped to 5-23 despite hitting 13 3-pointers.
Los Angeles’ 23 straight points comprised its longest run of the season, and the Lakers turned a small halftime deficit into a 25-point lead while holding Orlando without a field goal for 9:48. James scored 13 points in the first four minutes after halftime, slicing up Orlando’s defense with 3-pointers and dunks alike while also making two crowd-pleasing blocks at the rim.
Neither team took a substantial lead in a first half highlighted by James’ spectacular chase-down block of R.J. Hampton’s layup attempt in the second quarter. The Magic hit nine 3-pointers during the first half in another significant step for one of the NBA’s worst-shooting and lowest-scoring teams.
Tip-ins
Magic: Rookie guard Jalen Suggs missed his sixth straight game with a broken right thumb. … Gary Harris was limited to six points in 33 minutes on just five shots.
Lakers: Dwight Howard made his third start of the season against the team that drafted him in 2004 and employed him for eight years before he became an NBA vagabond. The center, who turned 36 last Wednesday, had five points and four rebounds. … Carmelo Anthony scored 13 points and hit three 3-pointers.
Up next
Magic: Host the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night.
Lakers: At the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night.
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LeBron scores 30, Lakers top Magic 106-94 for 5th win in 7
