Magic hand Lakers first loss from sub-.500 squad behind Fultz triple-double

The Los Angeles Lakers saw a nine-game win-streak snapped thanks to a big game from Markelle Fultz on Wednesday night.

A rough start and a poor shooting night from their key scorers resulted in an unlikely loss on Wednesday night for the Los Angeles Lakers, 119-118 to the Orlando Magic. The loss snapped a nine-game Lakers win-streak and also is their first loss this season to a team with a sub-.500 record. The Lakers were the last team in the NBA that had yet to lose to a team with a losing record.

LeBron James had a tough night shooting the ball, going 7 of 19 from the field and 2 for 9 from the 3-point line, but he matched his career-high in assists on Wednesday with 19 assists. A big reason why was the play of Troy Daniels and Quinn Cook off the Lakers bench as the two sharpshooting but seldom-used guards combined for 39 points off the Lakers bench. The Lakers needed every bit of the points as they had to claw back from 21 points down to make it a game.

For Orlando, Aaron Gordon made the huge highlight plays with a few dunks and solid defense on LeBron James, but Markelle Fultz stole the show down the stretch as he scored a difficult basket on LeBron to give the Magic a three-point lead. On the basket, Fultz did a slight variation on LeBron’s famous spin-move, while wearing a pair of LeBron 17s, by the way. Fultz ended with 21 points, 10 assists, and 11 rebounds.

On the following possession, James tried to tie the game but missed the 3-point attempt.

In addition to LeBron’s tough shooting night, Kyle Kuzma was also a measly 2 for 10 and the normally efficient Dwight Howard was 4 for 10. A lot of that credit should go to the Magic, who came into the game ranked No. 5 in defensive rating.

The Lakers are now heading out on a five-game road trip that will begin on Saturday night with a nationally televised game against James Harden, Russell Westbrook, and the Houston Rockets.

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