Orlando @ Los Angeles preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 31, 2018 ) L.A. Lakers 105, Orlando 127

The Los Angeles Lakers hit a bit of a snag on their way to a sixth consecutive win on Monday, falling off in the fourth quarter of a 108-103 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. The Lakers will try to put the sting of that defeat behind them and continue their strong play since the All-Star break when they host the Orlando Magic on Wednesday.

Los Angeles held an 11-point lead with under six minutes remaining on Monday before Portland All-Star Damian Lillard got hot. "This is a tough one because we had the win," Lakers guard Isaiah Thomas told reporters. "I feel like we played a pretty solid game to secure the win, we just didn't execute and didn't get stops down the stretch. Once tomorrow comes you gotta have a short memory, good or bad." The Magic had a modest two-game winning streak come to an end in a 94-80 loss at Utah on Monday to begin a five-game road trip and are locked in a battle to avoid the basement in the Eastern Conference. "I mean, in our position, every night is tough," Orlando swingman Evan Fournier told the team's website. "It's not like we're an elite team, so we have to compete every night and play hard every night. We're on the road for a long time and that's going to make it harder, but every game will be hard."

TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, FS Florida (Orlando), Spectrum SportsNet (Los Angeles)

ABOUT THE MAGIC (20-44): Orlando is trying to develop young players down the stretch and is happy to have rookie Jonathan Isaac, who missed nine weeks with an ankle injury. Isaac went scoreless in each of the last two games but is impressing on defense. "He's legit on the defensive end," Magic coach Frank Vogel told reporters of Isaac. "We put him in there (in the second-half starting lineup) because (Jazz forward) Joe Ingles had 16 points and seven assists and was killing us in the first half. We put (Isaac) in there on him and he just slowed him down. It's a heck of a weapon. He's so young, and the future is just bright for him."

ABOUT THE LAKERS (28-35): A big piece of Los Angeles' success of late has been small forward Brandon Ingram, who missed the last two games and is not expected to play on Wednesday due to a groin injury. The 20-year-old took on a leadership role in the offense when point guard Lonzo Ball was injured prior to the All-Star break and averaged 18.9 points on 56.7 percent shooting, including 52 percent from 3-point range, and 5.1 assists over a 10-game span from Feb. 4 until suffering the injury on March 1. Rookie Kyle Kuzma started in Ingram's spot on Monday and contributed 11 points on 4-of-10 shooting.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Magic G D.J. Augustin is 22-of-37 from 3-point range over the last eight games.

2. Lakers PF Channing Frye (appendectomy) returned to non-contact practice but is still without a timetable for a return.

3. The home team took each of the last nine meetings, with Orlando grabbing a 127-105 win on Jan. 31.

PREDICTION: Lakers 122, Magic 109