For the second time in two games, the Los Angeles Lakers played Monday with stars Luka Dončić and LeBron James following a seven-game absence by James.
For the second time in those two games, the Lakers lost.
The Orlando Magic opened a 100-83 fourth-quarter lead, then held on for a 118-106 win. The victory snapped a six-game losing streak at home for the Magic, who hadn’t previously won at the Kia Center since Feb. 23.
Dončić and James each scored 24-plus points. But it wasn’t enough to stop a slump that’s now seen the Lakers lose seven of their last 10 games. The loss drops the Lakers to 43-28, which at the conclusion of Monday’s game dropped them into a fourth-place tie in the West with the Memphis Grizzlies, a half-game behind the third-place Denver Nuggets.
The race for the No. 2 seed in the West remains tight with the Nuggets, Lakers and Grizzlies all within 2.5 games of the second-place Houston Rockets. The Oklahoma City Thunder are in control of the No. 1 seed with a 13.5-game lead over Houston.
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Monday’s loss to Orlando follows a 146-115 loss to the now 31-40 Chicago Bulls in James’ first game back from a groin injury. With Dončić and James back together, the Lakers had hoped to finish strong down the stretch in the race for the No. 2 seed. Instead, they remain mired in a mini-slump with consecutive losses to teams with losing records.
Dončić led the Lakers with 32 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists while hitting 4 of 10 3-pointers. But he struggled from the field on a 9-of-23 shooting night.
James posted 24 points, 8 assists and 6 rebounds while shooting 9 of 18 from the field. Austin Reaves (18 points, six rebounds, four assists) and Dorrian Finney-Smith (14 points, seven rebounds) joined the star duo in double figures for the Lakers.
But the Lakers had no answer for Orlando’s duo of Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero. Wagner, who scored 37 against the Lakers in a November win in Los Angeles, torched the Lakers again with 32 points, 8 assists and 5 rebounds. Banchero added 30 points and seven rebounds to help lead the season sweep of the Lakers.
The Lakers will look to get back in the win column on Wednesday against the Pacers on the second leg of a four-game road trip.
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