Lonzo Ball, Lakers' interior defense missing in first half of Florida trip
ORLANDO -- It was "Classic Night" in Orlando on Saturday; the Orlando Magic went with old-school video graphics and in-game music, as well as sweet vintage Shaquille O'Neal and Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway uniforms from the 1990s.
As it turns out, the Los Angeles Lakers decided to participate to some degree, throwing back their defense to the start of this season, when they were horrible, as opposed to how they had been playing much improved defense more recently.
Making matters worse for the Lakers was the fact that Lonzo Ball struggled badly offensively and went scoreless with Rajon Rondo out in a 130-117 Magic rout of the Lakers at Amway Center on Saturday night.
On Sunday night, LeBron James returns to Miami, and he certainly hopes the Lakers and Ball will play better against the team of his old friend Dwyane Wade and former boss Pat Riley. It'll be the first of two straight return games for James, who visits the Cleveland Cavaliers next Wednesday for the first time since signing with the Lakers in free agency.
"After the first quarter, we were pretty bad defensively," said James, who had 22 points and seven assists but watched the entire fourth quarter from the bench as the Lakers never cut Orlando's lead below double digits. "We had a lot of breakdowns, uncharacteristic of us as of late.
"But give Orlando credit. They put us in positions where they just kind of took advantage of not being in the right spots defensively," James added.
The Lakers had their four-game winning streak snapped in defenseless fashion. The Lakers (8-7) opened the first quarter looking like a team that had won six of its previous seven games, scoring 31 points in the first quarter. But their defense collapsed after that, looking like the defense that surrendered an average of 120 points per game in the first 10 games of the season.
"There were a lot of things that hurt us tonight," James said. "It's not just one thing."
D.J. Augustinwas the latest quick guard to expose the Lakers' defense, scoring 18 of his 22 points and hitting 7 of 8 shots over the second and third quarters. By the time Augustin was done flying by Lakers guards, the Magic were up 100-81 entering the fourth.
Nikola Vucevic also toasted the Lakers for game highs of 36 points and 13 rebounds, forcing Lakers coach Luke Walton to try to go small when Vucevic was hitting outside shots and the Lakers' defensive center duo of JaVale McGee and Tyson Chandler was ineffective.
Meanwhile, Ball, who actually was engaged defensively with two steals and a block, missed all five of his shots and finished with zero points, four assists and five rebounds. It was the second scoreless game of Ball's career.
It wasn't what the Lakers needed in their first game without Rondo, who is expected to miss at least a month after undergoing surgery to repair a fractured right third metacarpal.
"I didn't play good at all tonight, didn't score, think I had four turnovers, so it's not a good game," Ball said. "Bounce back tomorrow."
In the closing seconds, Lance Stephenson appeared to be dribbling out the clock when he drove in for a layup with 2.1 seconds left. Walton said he tells his players to get a shot up rather than take a turnover as the 24-second shot clock is about to expire.
"I was going to pull it out, but I looked at Coach and he said, 'Go ahead,' so [I shot it]," Stephenson told ESPN. "I looked at him, he said, 'Go ahead, play,' so I decided to go."
With the game long out of reach, James was probably ready to get this bad taste out of his mouth as he returns to Miami. Perhaps a visit to where James enjoyed his first championship success will bring something much better out of the Lakers. That said, James will be looking to break a four-game losing streak in Miami as a visitor.
"It brings back memories when you go to a place where you had some success," James said. "It seems so long ago since I played there. The banners still hang and the memories are still there."
ESPN's Dave McMenamin contributed to this story.
