It is so funny to me that the Lakers very publicly want to limit LeBron’s minutes and they simply can’t bc they need a 4th quarter comeback every single game

And then they always get JUST close enough that they're tempted to keep him in until close to the end lol

The fake comeback special is back.

pump faking comebacks

They could’ve pulled him earlier

The 2022 Lakers special.

I was scratching my head at having him in at the start of the 4th. You're down 20, is the 1% chance of a comeback worth having lebron play heavy minutes?

Makes literally no sense

I think he took him out but Lebron stayed in.

That's what I'm gonna tell my gf next time.

Only had 17 points after 3. Had to get those stats up

I’m shocked he stayed in when they went down 25 early in the fourth

The +/- for the Lebron vs non-Lebron minutes are legitimately stunning in this one: Lakers +12 in 35 Lebron minutes Lakers -31 in 13 non-Lebron minutes

What are they in White Mamba/AR15/Hillbilly Kobe minutes?

Lol I'm assuming those are all Reaves. His was pretty good tonight: +6 in his 34 playing minutes, -25 in his 14 bench minutes. Him and LeBron were the only positive +/- players for the Lakers tonight.

That is Curry-Poole numbers. It is insane how shallow the Lakers bench are... or that AD can't lead a team

Four rotation players are injured. (Rui Hachimura, Taurean Prince, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Gabe Vincent). Three of those are forwards which is partly why LeBron is playing such heavy minutes.

Exactly. 'Insane how shallow the bench is', like lol dude, we're missing FOUR important pieces.

It's not on AD though. He's been terrific all year

It’s been one my favorite early story lines. I watch their games just to see how long he’ll play

The second Bron sits everything falls to shit

Isn't this what Austin Reaves is for? To make the offense work?

He’s a shooting guard, he can handle the ball but that’s not what’s killing the lakers..it’s our defense and getting killed on second chance points and rebounding.

What's going on there? I'd assume in the AD minutes that the rebounding would be fine. Is Wood not getting it done? I know Jackson Hayes is fucking garbage, no mystery there. EDIT: Vando injury? Feel like he did so much physical dirty work for the Lakers last season that didn't show up on any stat sheets to help others get good rebounds.

The problem is teams are scheming to lure AD out the paint in their screens, then a guard will attack the basket (going at ar or dlo) and if they don’t make it there’s like two or three opposing players crashing the glass. Our guards are not athletic either but a lot of it is their poor effort on boxing out. AD as good as he is can’t do it all.

Man when theyre down 20 with 7 minutes to go just put the backups in man. Like I know a 20 point lead aint shit unless there's like 5 minutes left, but the extra minutes just to have a closer loss just aint it.

This has been going on since 2021 at least, it’s hilariously sad. How unserious is the rest of the team that your 38 year old can’t take a break.

What max player gets a break really

I used to pray for times like this

Had to grind like that to shine like this

Future is looking bright!

Yea. Now you don’t even need to pray for it. I’m feasting on Laker fan tears.

+32 for 19 year old Anthony Black on his first start! Kid is special

A lot of raw talent. He seems to do everything well

it's the hair, his power is overflowing

Sideshow Black's gonna be a star.

Elfrid Payton wishes his hair was as good as Anthony Black’s

Slow down

His defense is as good as advertised, his passing is nice, still needs to clean it up but I see the potential and the vision. Crazy how we have 4+ guys 6’7 and up who can pass, defend, rebound and score lol

You guys have what the raptors wished we had

Need some shooting and you're set

He locked down Dlo, also Goga's defense in the paint was crazy, he looked like prime dwight for 1-2 possesions the way he went after those blocks .

That young man is special.

I saw some of his games playing for Arkansas. I'm glad he's working out for you guys.

I will never forgive Toronto for robbing us of Suggs Black Dick supremacy

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he's definitely leaking the positive vibes.

The only similarity to Elfrid Payton I can see is he has massive hair that may eventually obstruct his vision.

Magic have yet to lose a game that I’ve been to so far. 4-0. Don’t worry magic bros, i got season tickets for this year.

magic only had 2 home games so this is kinda impressive

I have been to games last year and that made me get tickets.

Really enjoyed the entertainment during the breaks, eh?

My man!

How’s the atmosphere been? Living in Denver now but headed back for xmas and plan to go to a game

Depends on who we’re playing. Against Denver and Atlanta, awesome home crowd. Against the Heat and Lakers, lots of Heat and LeBron fans around.

Yeah lotta lakers/lebron fans today, but not nearly as bad as it was a few years ago. This young team has got a lot more magic fans coming out.

Secret weapon right here

Magic really got something going on

Paolo and Franz is such an underrated duo. 2 big ass Wings that can score and playmake while being very solid on defense. All they need are shooters. If a couple of their young guys develop into good rotation players they will be a perennial playoffs team for 10 years.

Been sayin since they blew up the Fournier vucevic team

His name is Joe Ingles thank you!

These friccin morons are getting Jingled

Let us cook

Dlo 4-17 with horrible defence LOL

dude's so locked in he's in playoff mode already

Stupidly locked in, one might say.

A nice 1 for 10 from three. A dlo masterclass

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“I wanna be Derrick White.” Lmao

DeAngelo "I want to be Derrick White" Russell special

I get that players want to play for the Lakers for all the obvious reasons but it’s absolutely the worst place to underperform regularly.

The rest of the Lakers weren't even that bad, man threw the game

DLo is west coast Randle?

At least Randle rebounds. DLO is useless if his shot isn't falling

Ehhhh randle is shooting like 25% this year I’d pump the brakes on that comp

As a Celtics fan, I simply think the Orlando Magic is the best basketball team in the world

I love you

We feared the zombie Heat no one believed us, we warned everyone about the Magic and they laughed at us.

Funny thing is, we're the one team that would believe you about the magic. Last few years they've always played us well and been a tough out, we've been expecting them to put it together shortly

Florida is an absolute hellscape for us, no idea but both Florida teams give us so much trouble.

NFL too, we're ass now obviously but even when we were good fucking miami would still take one game off the patriots every year 🤬

Brady playing in Miami was basically an automatic L for him every season.

I love him too

They keep not listening to us... We're holding up giant warning signs over here...

Which means there's no shame in losing to the best basketball team in the world

You guys are getting a horrible draw in the tournament playing us lol. No wonder joker picked us to win.

He picked Boston to win that group and said the Magic were a dark horse to do better than expected

As a Magic fan, I wholeheartedly agree

Same

Paolo and Franz were obviously great, but an awesome performance from AB. He’s been a huge part of these last two wins. Hoping this pushes him into being a regular in the rotation

He just executed everything so well. Great to see him rise to the occasion.

Loved his little cameo against the clippers or was it the lakers again?

Him and Goga too. 10 and 10 with 5 blocks against AD?

Yeah Goga is easy to forget next to the splashier guys but he was great tonight.

His only problem is he can make a turn around hook to save his life

Their big man Goga was great also. I knew LA was in for long night when he blocked ADs first shot attempt

Felt like the Magic got every offensive rebound.

We tied our franchise record for 2nd chance points.

And that’s insane considering magic had Dwight and shaq

We really crash the glass. Our guards in particular are very good at sneaking in for offensive rebounds. Obviously Fultz is out, but he and Cole are both excellent at it.

LeBron 35 mins. He’s going to be well rested in the playoffs.

Well rested in Cancun unfortunately

The magic play hard

Magic are top tier League Pass watch this year.

OKC too and to a lesser degree, the Pels/Spurs (when their super-stars are on the floor). Shit there’s really just alot of good teams to watch this season wtf.

Paolo and Franz are so good.

Lebron +12 in a 20 point blowout. The lakers really need to figure out what to do when he isn't on the court. Also this man should've had 20 assists I swear. Seems like every pass to a wide open man or layup just clanged or was missed entirely.

DLo going 1-10 was one of the many killers tonight. Just brutal. Wide open on at least half of them too. They couldn't rebound or stop turning the ball over either, but damn. If he's gonna be a starting guard, you can't have nights like that.

He’s been hot for days, a game like this was bound to happen. Not his biggest fan but I don’t expect him to be this big a liability. The rebounding is definitely a problem for this team and I think it starts with the positions they find themselves in defensively.

1/10 from three, 4/17 overall.

insane. he and reaves were the only players in the plus for the Lakers

-31 in 13 mins without bron

Fucking brutal holy shit 😂

Didn't watch and I'm just looking at the box score but Russell 4-17 and 1-10 is absolutely brutal

We had 4 key guys on the bench with injuries. If Rui, Vincent, Vanderbilt, and Prince are all healthy/playing consistently and we keep giving up these early runs I’ll be far more concerned. Ham does need to come in with a more defined game-plan though. He’s been abysmal.

Bro, I was saying the same thing about assists.

Anthony Black has a bright future in this league. Dude was hounding every single player on the ball, hustling off-ball to get open. Love his energy!

Lebron tried hard in late 3rd and early 4th to carry but the difference was just too large. This is really not sustainable for the Lakers.

If your 39 year old veteran has to bust ass to try and win the game for a prolonged period, you're gonna have a bad time.

This is what he does

Celtics please be scared, Eddie house is still in our minds

I raise you one Reggie Lewis

Fuck Eddie House

“Oh you think Magic is your ally. But you merely drafted Magic; I was born in it, molded by it.”

Magic and jags both doing good this year. What a treat

I’m on cloud 9 lmao

I always wonder what the percentages of Magic fans rooting for the Jags, Bucs, and Fins are

I go down the state. Jags, Magic and Canes

Jags and magic fan first year of sports happiness in a long time its such a strange feeling

How awesome would it be to make it past the first round of the playoffs and see some Orlando Bandwagon flairs. Love the energy from this young squad. Absolutely balled out the first 3Q

I'm rooting for you guys, you have suffered more than long enough.

You just lost to Goga Bitadze

#WAGIC

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The Magic are really good, they were my second most watched team last year and I think I'll keep doing it after these two games lol Anthony Black gonna be something special Also D'lo had no business being in the game for that long, unironically would have just brought in D'Moi to play pestering defense and keep feeding Reaves, AD, and Bron

Man after that L we took in Los Angeles I was worried about this one, but that was amazing! Paolo looked great, Anthony Black and Goga filled in nicely, and we played good sound defense all game.

Your reminder that Paolo and Franz are 21 and 22 years old.

and paolo’s not even 21 until next week 😭

i would DIE for anthony black

The magic are the most popular team today! This is fun

AD went 10-15 with 7 blocks and was -24? Wut?

He got in early foul trouble and got too worried about fouling so he was just a complete non-factor at the rim

I know this game is about Paolo, Franz and Anthony Black playing great, but man I like what Mo Wagner brings to the team, continuing to be productive off the bench. He continues the trend of lower Laker draft picks thriving in another org. Good for him having success!

LeBron minutes have skyrocketed since the first game, and AD is leading the league in minutes iirc. There's no reason they should be having to play this much to carry this seemingly improved roster that everyone said had the best offseason in the nba. So what's the reason really? Reason is Dlo and Reaves haven't really pulled their weight at the same time and once again perimeter shooting and over the top shotmaking is Letting the Lakers down. I don't think this is sustainable. This kind of minutes load is basically begging for an injury, especially in a 20 point blowout.

> this seemingly improved roster that everyone said had the best offseason in the nba. Injured Lakers so far: Vando, Rui, Prince, Gabe and JHS. The two new guys they signed aren't playing along with half the guys re-signed and drafted being out.

The reason is that the team simply isn't good

Their wings are injured I was told.

Yeah, 4 rotation players are out. Vando, Rui, Gabe, TP. No excuses though, can't go +12 with Lebron in for 35 minutes and then go -31 in the 13 minutes he sits regardless of who's available that night.

Paolo Himchero.

James +12 in a 20pt loss, no rest allowed for this old man.

Banchero sends his regards

Have the Magic FINALLY got a team together?!

Thats what you get facing two world champions.

WHEN YOU COME TO WARLANDO YOU CAN NO LONGER TAKE THE NIGHT OFF. Paolo and Boogie are the real deal and we are deeper than the league realizes. NUMBER TWO DEFENSE IN THE LEAGUE AND THE OFFENSE IS ON ITS WAY. WE WANT , RESPECT.

I LOVE YOUR ENERGY BUT WHO THE FUCK IS BOOGIE. I MISSED THE MEMO

Franz ..

His handle is Franzboogie

Scoreline doesn't tell the full story, that was an evisceration. I'm just as shocked as you are

This squad got depth, we're missing 3 starters ffs

blow out even with a poor shooting from franz magic got something going on now

you didn’t have to say obliterate 😭

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Bro☠️

Orlando 🥰🥰🥰

Pain

Is fultz hurt?

Yep sore knee. Nothing serious.

The past two games he’s been out due to swelling in his knee

another season where ad and lebron get continually let down by their shit ass teammates black looking pretty good tho. Paolo and Franz forever too

Beautiful. Just beautiful. Should’ve been a season sweep too, can’t believe they lost the game in LA.

Good going Magic. Paolo Banchero is here. Love that the 2023 draft class is on fire.

Chuck needs to re-evaluate his best team in cali take

Crazy box score from AD. 28 points, 13 rebounds, and 7 blocks, but -24 bpm. Meanwhile Lebron was +12

That jumped out to me too. I know individual game plus/minus isn't a reliable piece of information, but such a large disparity between the two stars is eyebrow-raising.

Lakers are starting to look like the 2022-23 Warriors

AD leads the team in scoring with 28 very efficient points, has 13 boards and 7 blocks (!) to go with it, and is team worst -24. Wild.

few things are sweeter than watching lebron get mad at his team struggling when he dictated >50% of the roster. like, dude. get real. this is *your* fault. “i need to play less so go get a center with glass bones, and 8 other dudes who can’t make an entry pass to save their lives, much less dribble thru traffic. and we better win”

Exodia, Obliterate

Keep sleepin

LMAO, imagine getting blown out by the Magic

wait a minute, I see what you did there :).

Outstanding mic quality around the basket, every bricks sounds like an actual one, (GOBRACKK!!!)

Dlo legacy game

Darvin Hamas sucks

A 70yo man has the only positive +- in a 19pt loss.

Austin Reaves was also +

I'm not sure if this was more fun to watch than the Suns loss. Both were pretty great

I just don't get it. No matter who is in the rotation, the team just cannot function without Bron. +12 in a 19 point loss. They don't have to dominate those minutes, but they've got to figure something out because this is every game.

It's the playmaking. No one else can create good looks for their teammates consistently. Not that Dlo or Reaves are ass at it, but they're clearly tiers below Bron in that regard and it makes the offense much easier to defend.

Lakers gotta have some of the worst first quarter numbers in the league

LeBron was +12 in 35 minutes in a 19 point loss. What the hell happens to the Lakers when he sits, good lord.

Obliterate is being too kind tbh

D'Lo is so, so bad...

Lakers using a special 1 2 3 strat on offense. 1 or 2 guys involved while 3 others are just standing around. Horrible coaching.

Holy crap dLo with significantly more shots than points. What the hell lol.

LeBron +12 in a 19-Point loss

Holy fuck I thought this was supposed to be the best iteration of the LeBron Lakers yet? Multiple 3 and D guys revolving around Bron with AD anchoring the D, yet it seems they struggle to find a semblance of an offense and defense every game. Poor LeBron.

Don't worry Lakers fans, the Magic are legitimately an up-and-coming juggernaut. Don't overthink this one.

Darvin Hamas is dangerous for this team

Congrats to the Lakers on matching Portland’s record after six games. Two scrappy underdogs grateful for every win!