Luke Kennard drills last-second 3-pointer to lift Lakers over Magic, 105-104

Thuc Nhi Nguyen, Los Angeles Times on Mar 21, 2026

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ORLANDO, Fla. — Welcome to the Lakers, Luke Kennard.

The Lakers’ midseason acquisition made the game-winning 3-pointer in the team’s 105-104 win over the Orlando Magic on Saturday, extending the Lakers’ winning streak to nine.

Luka Doncic notched his 40th 30-point game of the season with 33 points and eight assists, but he was assessed a technical foul that puts him in line for a one-game suspension because he has 16 on the season.

Doncic and Magic forward Goga Bitadze were jawing back and forth in the third quarter while Doncic was at the free-throw line. Players from both teams were lobbying for calls throughout the physical game. The Magic (38-32) and Lakers (46-25) are first and third in the NBA in free-throw attempts, but the Lakers attempted only nine in the first half. Doncic leads the NBA in free-throw attempts per game at 10.3.

Doncic missed his first free throw and paused before taking his second, speaking with an official while wagging his finger in the direction of Bitadze. After Doncic made the second, he and Bitadze were whistled for double technical fouls while backpedaling on defense.

Coming off a season-best 60 points in Miami on Thursday, Doncic continued his hot shooting in the first half against Orlando with 24 points on 10-for-17 shooting. But the Lakers trailed by three at the break, struggling to find a rhythm against the more-balanced Magic that got at least two points from all 10 of their players who entered Saturday’s game. Doncic shot 2 for 13 in the second half.

Doncic missed a step-back 3 with 1:04 remaining that could have tied the game. Those were the types of shots he had made during the Lakers’ eight-game winning streak. Austin Reaves had 11 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter, but he missed an open game-tying 3 with 10 seconds left. LeBron James, who set the NBA record for games played with his 1,612th regular-season appearance, had 12 points.

James forced a turnover on a Magic in-bounds pass with 4.7 seconds left, giving the Lakers a chance to win or tie the game on the last shot. He has a layup blocked, but the Lakers got the ball back when it went out of bounds. Kennard, the NBA’s leading 3-point shooter, was wide open from the wing.

Teammates rushed to surround Kennard at the final buzzer. He walked off the court to chants of “LUUUKE” and a loud “Let’s go Lakers” cheer.

Doncic picked up his 15th technical foul of the season against Denver on March 5, putting him on alert for a possible suspension. It was the last time that the Lakers lost before their season-best eight-game winning streak.

During the scorching run, Doncic was averaging 40.9 points per game and shooting 42.2% from 3-point range. The Lakers climbed from sixth place in the West to solidly in third place. Doncic hit daring fadeaway 3-pointers, threw sky-high lobs to teammates and nailed a dramatic game-winning shot against the Nuggets at home to add cinematic highlights to his budding most valuable player case. On defense, he had five steals against Miami and four more against the Magic.