Wagner, Magic shock Lakers

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Franz Wagner drained a three-pointer with three seconds remaining as the Orlando Magic ended the Los Angeles Lakers’ unbeaten home record with a dramatic 119-118 victory in the National Basketball Association on Thursday.

Rising star Wagner took full advantage of wayward Lakers shooting from the free throw line in the closing seconds of a see-saw battle at the Crypto.Com Arena to give Orlando a hard-fought win.

Wagner, 23, finished with 37 points, 11 assists and six rebounds to lead the Magic scoring, with older brother Moritz adding 19 from the bench and Jalen Suggs scoring 23.

The in-form Lakers, who had gone into Thursday’s encounter on a six-game unbeaten streak, were left ruing some wasteful shooting from the free throw line in the fourth quarter, where they made just three of nine attempts.

The Lakers had looked poised to close out the win after opening up a four-point lead with 27 seconds remaining at 118-114.

But Franz Wagner closed the gap to 118-116 with a driving layup, and then Anthony Davis missed two free throws to give Orlando a glimmer of hope with 19 seconds remaining.

Wagner then punished the Lakers profligacy, coolly knocking down a step-back three from 26 feet to give Orlando what turned out to be the winning lead.

Davis led the Lakers scorers with 39 points while LeBron James finished with 31 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. Rookie Dalton Knecht added 17 points.

Orlando improved to 10-7 while the Lakers slipped to 10-5 and are now fourth in the Western Conference.

Elsewhere, the San Antonio Spurs improved to 8-8 for the season after scrapping to a 126-118 win over the Utah Jazz.