Magic end Lakers’ win streak

By AFP
January 17, 2020

LOS ANGELES: Markelle Fultz finished with 21 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, and the Orlando Magic snapped the Los Angeles Lakers’ nine-game winning streak with a 119-118 victory on Wednesday.

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The triple-double was the second of Fultz’s career with the other coming in April 2018 when he played for the Philadelphia 76ers.

Aaron Gordon also scored 21 points, Wes Iwundu scored 19 points, Nikola Vucevic had 19, and Terrence Ross came off the bench to score 15 for Orlando.

LeBron James scored just 19 points but added 19 assists for the Lakers, who were playing without injured Anthony Davis. “We didn’t play well enough to win,” said Lakers coach Frank Vogel. “They made us pay.”

The Magic won despite missing their leading scorer guard Evan Fournier, who has been averaging 19.2 points per game. He missed the contest due to a right quad injury.

“I am not disappointed,” said James. “We didn’t start the game off the right way. We just got to be better.”

Elsewhere, the Miami Heat got a huge performance from rookie Kendrick Nunn, and Philadelphia made the right plays down the stretch as the two Eastern Conference juggernauts continued their dominant play at home.

Tobias Harris scored 34 points and nailed three clutch shots late in the game as the 76ers won their fifth straight game with a 117-106 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.

He also had 10 rebounds and scored 11 of his points in the final five minutes for the 76ers in front of a crowd of 20,100 at the Wells Fargo Center arena. Harris finished off Philadelphia’s 19th home win in 21 games this season by hitting two free throws with 31 seconds remaining.

“When we got together in the huddle before the fourth quarter, we said that we were going to have to hold them to under 20 points to win the game,” said Harris.

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