Lakers win their second straight in a tight 4th quarter victory over the Orlando Magic.
The Lakers moved their win streak to two games after beating the Orlando Magic’s 96–93 putting their season record to 30–17. Coming into tonight’s matchup, The Lakers announced they signed recently bought out Andre Drummond, adding him to the Lakers team that has been hit with injuries to important players. Signing Drummond is going to help the Lakers with their injured stars and help with a deep playoff run. The four-time rebounding champ adds a great rebounding rim protector this team has been missing all season.
Both the Lakers and Magic shot poorly from the field, with the Magics shooting 39% total from the field going 34 for 88 and 11 for 33 from the three-point line at 33%. The Lakers were lucky the Magics shot poorly from the field with their numbers being slightly better, going 34 for 82 (41%) total from the field and a game low 27% from the perimeter shooting 11 for 40.
The Magic traded almost their entire starting lineup before the trade deadline, showing they are in rebuilding mode moving forward. Magic's Dwayne Bacon led the way for Orlando scoring a game-high 26 points on 9 of 19 (47%) shooting from the field and added 8 rebounds in his 33 minutes of action.
The Lakers had multiple solid performances from their role players as they looked to them with their stars out with injuries. Tonight’s close win showed how much they miss both LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Dennis Schröder led all Lakers in points, finishing with 24 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds on 7 of 14 (50%) shooting from the field, and added 2 steals in 36 minutes. Schröder aggressively attacked the bucket tonight drawing contact on multiple plays going 9 for 10 (90%) from the free-throw line.
The second-leading scorer on the night for this Lakers team was Kyle Kuzma. In the Lakers win, Kuzma notched his 12th double-double of the season, finishing with 21 points, 11 rebounds, and 4 assists in 38 minutes of action. Kuzma had trouble finding a rhythm to stay consistent going 8 for 20 (40%) total from the field goal and a whopping 5 for 15 (33%) from the three-point line.
Arguably the Lakers most consistent player throughout the season (outside their stars AD & LBJ) Montrezl Harrell had himself a solid game for this squad finishing with his 8th double-double of the season scoring 18 points and grabbing 11 rebounds on 8 of 13 (61%) shooting from the field. Harrell added 2 blocks and 2 steals to go along with his double-double as he finished with a plus/minus of 14. The former 6th man of the year winner has made a strong case to be considered a 6th man of the year candidate this season with the constant energy he brings every night for this Lakers team.
Montrezl Harrell averages in the month of March:
19.5 PTS
8.0 REBS
0 BLKS
65.3 FG%
The Lakers will play at home against the Eastern Conference 3rd place 29–17 Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday. The Lakers' new addition, Andre Drummond will make his debut this Wednesday, looking to add a needed spark to this team.