Nba - Lakers Lost for Second Consecutive Time

The current Western Conference champions LA Lakers, lost for second consecutive time at Florida on Saturday night against the Orlando Magic 106-103. Both teams were playing at their best but at the end, two free throws of Dwight Howard and Kobe Bryant missing the three point shot at the buzzer, gave the Magic the victory.

The game was equally played, in the first two quarters the Lakers in hands of its super star Kobe were having a lead of 9 points at halftime. However, Magic came stronger not giving Kobe a chance to score and also scoring 6 three-pointers to come back in the game.

At the end of the third quarter Orlando got a lead of 1 point, 85-84. In the fourth quarter, things got equally again for both teams, each one taking the lead in different times. However, we have to mention that at the end the Lakers got short by having Kobe shooting 1-for-7 and not having anyone else to shot consistently for them. On the other hand, Orlando did have Howard and Jameer Nelson shooting consistently and at the end Howard wrapped the victory by making the last two free throws.

The best shooters for the Lakers were Kobe Bryant with 41 points, Fisher with 27 points and Gasol with 11 points. Bynum was not at his best on this game and didn’t contribute to the Lakers as he usually does. For the Magic, Nelson added 27 points, Lewis 22 points, Howard contributed with 18 points and 12 rebounds and Turkoglu added 14 points.

So, the difference in the game was that four of the Orlando’s starters scored double digits and for the Lakers only two players were consistent on their shooting. Gasol did his part on defense but didn’t score that many points. Phil Jackson was very upset with the lost especially being their second consecutive one and criticized his players for their decision making in the last two quarters by looking for Kobe to much even when he was strongly guarded sometimes by two Orlando players.

"I was yelling at the guys, they kept giving the ball back to Kobe after he'd hit somebody in an open situation. He was dead-legged out there and really gave us a great effort for three quarters, but that fourth quarter, he was tired," expressed Coach Phil Jackson.

With this lost the Lakers are now 21-5 and the Orlando Magic are 21-6. The next games of the Lakers will be on Monday against Memphis, Tuesday against New Orleans and one of the most exciting games will be on Thursday against the current champions and leader of the NBA the Boston Celtics. This game is one of the most awaited games for the NBA fans due to the fact that they are both at the first place at their respective conferences.

Orlando for its part will play against Golden State on Monday, then New Orleans on Thursday and Minnesota on Saturday.

We hope to see great basketball these holidays at the NBA and hope the Lakers will find their way to win these three games, even try to end the Celtics’ winning streak, and not burn out before this year ends. On the other hand, we hope the best for Orlando Magic, which are having a great season this year and are trying to demonstrate they can be a threat in the East.