Orlando Magic pull away late to stun the Los Angeles Lakers 113-103: NBA Recap
Dwight Howard might have changed his home from Orlando to Los Angeles, but his inability to shoot from the free throw line hasn’t changed one bit. Magic banked on that as they took turns in committing fouls on their former teammate and in doing so, beat the Los Angeles Lakers 113-103 at the Staples Center on Sunday night.
Arron Afflalo led the Magic with 30 points, Glen Davis had a great game as he finished off with 23 points and 12 defensive rebounds, Jameer Nelson posted a double-double with 19 points 13 assists and 5 rebounds while Nikola Vucevic finished off with 17 points and 12 rebounds for the winning side.
Kobe Bryant top scored for the Lakers with 34 points, but he went 12 out of 27 from the floor, Dwight Howard collected 21 points and 15 rebounds while Metta World Peace finished off with 15 points for the Lakers.
The Magic kept on fouling Howard time and time again and it paid dividends as he had a disappointing night from the free throw line, going 9 out of 21. Magic scored 19 out of 20 from the free throws on the other hand.
Pau Gasol made a jumper to tie the score on 8 early in the period. The Lakers were up 13-10 after a Howard hook shot, when the Magic went for a quick 7-0 burst to go up 17-13. The score was tied on 23 later in the period before Lakers scored two quick deuces to go up 27-23 by the end of the quarter.
Chris Duhon sank a three pointer in the early goings of the second period to put the Lakers up by 33-25. Pau Gasol’s free throws pushed their advantage to 40-31 before Orlando came back and made it a two point game on 42-44. Kobe scored 6 straight points for the Lakers to put them up 50-45 before the Magic closed out the period on a high to tie the game on 52 at halftime.
The score was tied on 64 early in the third period after a jumper by Kobe. Orlando were trailing by just 69-70 with just 2:38 minutes to go in the period before the Lakers scored some baskets to go up 77-73 by the end of the period.
Los Angeles were looking solid and a Jodie Meeks shot from behind the arc put them up 84-77 early in the fourth period. However, the Magic stunned the Staples Center with a quick 9-0 burst to snatch the lead as they went up 86-84. Bryant tied the score on 88 with a layup but Magic had other plans and an 8-0 quick burst had them up by 98-90. They were up 103-93 with 2:22 on the regulation and the Lakers could never threaten after that.
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