Magic Vs Lakers: Carter Jr.'s Putback Stuns Lakers in 110-109 Finish
The Orlando Magic beat the Los Angeles Lakers 110-109 at Crypto. com Arena when Wendell Carter Jr. grabbed an offensive rebound and scored in the final seconds, a loss that crystallized late-game miscues in the home stretch. The magic vs lakers result matters because it dropped the Lakers to 34-23, pushed them to sixth place in the Western Conference and completed an 8-game homestand that produced only a 4-4 mark.
Magic Vs Lakers: Wendell Carter Jr. 's putback
Wendell Carter Jr. finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds, including the decisive putback that made it 110-109 with 6. 7 seconds left—also described in some summaries as seven seconds—after grabbing an offensive rebound off a Paolo Banchero miss. The play came after Banchero, who led the Magic with 36 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, had missed the jumper on the possession. Banchero went 10 of 11 from the free-throw line and the Magic finished with 58 points in the paint and 15 second-chance points, compared with the Lakers' 50 in the paint and eight second-chance points.
LeBron James: late free throws, dunk and a missed 3
LeBron James scored 21 points on 8-for-13 shooting, collected six rebounds and handed out four assists, but missed a critical 3-pointer at the final buzzer that sealed the loss. Earlier in the closing minute James had made one of two free throws after drawing a foul in the post—putting the Lakers up 107-105—then missed a free throw with 45 seconds remaining, which preceded Desmond Bane's go-ahead 3 with 35 seconds left. James responded with a dunk to put L. A. back on top 109-108 before Carter Jr. 's offensive board and putback. After the game James said, "I don't know. Just haven't been a good home team. "
Luka Doncic's final decision and overall line
Luka Doncic nearly posted a triple-double, finishing with 22 points, 15 assists and nine rebounds, but he shot 8 of 24 from the field and passed up a deep 3 on the game's final possession before making a hurried pass to James. That sequence—Doncic electing not to pull up from deep, then feeding James for an errant 3—directly preceded the buzzer that ended the Lakers' comeback attempt.
Supporting Lakers and Magic contributors
Deandre Ayton recorded 21 points and 13 rebounds, marking his first 20-point game in nearly a month. Austin Reaves added 18 points on 6-of-16 shooting after a slow start. For Orlando, Desmond Bane scored 22 points and handed out six assists. The fourth-year Paolo Banchero's physical work inside and timely jumpers were a decisive component of the Magic attack.
Homestand results, standings and coach assessment
The eight-game homestand, scheduled over three weeks because of a weeklong All-Star break, was intended to help the Lakers build connectivity, but Los Angeles went 4-4 at Crypto. com Arena and is 16-12 at home for the season. The loss was the second in a row and the second time in the last six games the Lakers have dropped back-to-back contests. The defeat also ended the Lakers' streak of victories in games where they entered the fourth quarter with a lead; the club had been 25-0 in such situations entering Tuesday. The result dropped Los Angeles to sixth in the Western Conference while the Minnesota Timberwolves moved ahead with a 36-23 mark.
Coach JJ Redick on the defeat
Coach JJ Redick called the roster "a work in progress" and pointed to the Magic's second-half attack: "They were able to get to the basket consistently in the second half and really put pressure on our rim. And then Banchero made a lot of jumpers. " The Lakers' missed free-throw details in the closing sequence are unclear in the provided context.
What makes this notable is how a compact series of late mistakes—the missed free throw, a go-ahead 3, a follow-up dunk and an offensive rebound—flipped a one-point lead into a defeat in under a minute, amplifying the homestand's uneven returns and leaving Los Angeles with clear late-game questions to solve.
