Magic Vs Lakers: Bane’s late 3, Banchero’s drive and Lakers’ botched finish hand Orlando a 110-109 road win
In a finish decided by execution and trust, the Orlando Magic beat the Los Angeles Lakers 110-109 in Los Angeles, a result shaped by Desmond Bane’s go-ahead 3 off a pass from Paolo Banchero with 35. 4 seconds left. The sequence — and the Lakers’ failed final possession, which ended with LeBron James missing a desperation turnaround 3 after a late pass from Luka Dončić — crystallized months of the Magic’s work under pressure.
Key moment in Magic Vs Lakers: Desmond Bane’s go-ahead 3
Desmond Bane rose and hit a 3-pointer with 35. 4 seconds remaining that flipped a tight game in Orlando’s favor; the shot forced a Lakers timeout with 34. 6 seconds left. The attempt came after Bane, a 39 percent career 3-point shooter who had missed six of his first seven attempts that night, was left open following Paolo Banchero’s decision-making inside. The play was captured by photographer Katelyn Mulcahy.
Paolo Banchero’s rebound and read with 42. 3 seconds left
With Orlando trailing by two and 42. 3 seconds on the clock, Paolo Banchero rebounded a missed free throw by LeBron James and pushed the ball into the possession that produced Bane’s 3. Banchero finished with 36 points — his most in four weeks and his second-highest total this season — and used a screen from center Wendell Carter Jr. to get two feet into the paint before hesitating and finding the open shooter.
Lineup details: Wendell Carter Jr., Deandre Ayton and the corner defenders
The possession unfolded with Carter setting the screen and Deandre Ayton positioned in front of Banchero, a sequence Banchero said allowed him to read the defense and identify LeBron James tagging Carter. Both corners were occupied on the play: Anthony Black, who had struggled with his shot, was on the weak side, while Tristan da Silva, who went 3-of-5 from distance earlier, was on the strong side and kept defender Rui Hachimura from straying too far.
Luka Dončić, LeBron James and the Lakers’ live play
Earlier in the sequence, Luka Dončić found a corner 3 attempt for Rui Hachimura that missed everything and was not rebounded by the Magic. On the ensuing baseline out-of-bounds play, Dončić found a cutting LeBron James for a go-ahead dunk after Anthony Black failed to help Jonathan Isaac off a D’Angelo Reaves back screen. That dunk gave the Lakers the lead with under half a minute remaining, and the Lakers later had a late chance that ended when James missed a turnaround 3 after a belated pass from Dončić.
Jamahl Mosley’s timeout decision with 26. 3 seconds left
Magic coach Jamahl Mosley elected not to use a timeout when he could have set up a designed play with 26. 3 seconds remaining. Mosley said he preferred the personnel on the floor — a lineup that contained the defensively vulnerable trio of Luka Dončić, LeBron James and Reaves alongside Ayton and Hachimura, who was in the game instead of starter Marcus Smart — and wanted his team to execute live rather than give the Lakers time to draw a play.
The immediate effect of Mosley’s choice was to keep the game in live action, which led to Dončić’s out-of-bounds sequence and the subsequent defensive scramble that left Bane open. What makes this notable is the degree to which months of cultivated trust in the Magic’s rotations and shot-readiness translated into a single, decisive sequence: Banchero’s rebound and pass created the look, and Bane’s confidence closed the game.
Those moments followed a recent stretch that had tested Orlando’s resilience: the Magic had been beaten at the double-overtime buzzer by the Phoenix Suns’ Jalen Green on Saturday night, and then nearly lost again when Bennedict Mathurin of the LA Clippers failed to convert a final-shot opportunity in their next game. The 110-109 comeback in Los Angeles signaled a recovery of trust inside the Magic locker room and among the players on the floor.
