Magic snap Lakers win streak at four with big win in Orlando
Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images
The two-time defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers were rolling coming into Sunday's matchup with the Orlando Magic winning the first four games of the seven-game road trip. As if the win over the Celtics (92-86) in Boston this past Thursday wasn't impressive enough, the Lakers were able to get another big win the following day by heading the Big Apple to blowout the New York Knicks (113-96) on their home floor at Madison Square Garden.
Not only were the defending champs able to get back on track with four straight wins on the road, but they were able to do it against arguably the best team in the league in the Boston Celtics and against an up and coming squad in New York. These two wins were able to give the Lakers a little bit of breathing room with all the trade rumors floating around Lakerland involving Carmelo Anthony.
Following the big win over the Knicks, the Lakers had just one day to rest before they had to get right back at it against Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic on their home floor. Even though the Magic have taken a backseat to the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference as of late, Orlando still has a solid squad and will be a force to be reckoned with come playoff time.
With that being said, the Lakers had their work cut out for them on Sunday in this rematch of the 2009 NBA Finals. The consensus coming into this game was that the defending champs would be a bit sluggish after such an emotional win over the Celtics and a dominant performance against the Knicks, but were confident that they could go into Orlando and come out with the win.
Unfortunately, the Lakers were sluggish and couldn't get anything going against the Magic. Not only was Dwight Howard almost unstoppable in the paint (31 points, 13 rebounds), but the Lakers' perimeter players could hit a shot to save their lives.
Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum finished with a team-high 17 points for the Lakers, but that wasn't enough to overcome the horrible shooting for the team as a whole as they shot just 39.4% from the floor (33-84). Bynum did get off to a good start and at one point looked like he might be in for a career game, but he just couldn't keep up with Howard in the long run as the Magic cruised to a 89-75 victory.
Lakers-Magic Highlights
NEXT LAKERS GAME: Los Angeles Lakers @ Charlotte Bobcats Mon. Feb. 14, 2011 4 p.m. PST
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