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 "It's all in the name," Lakers guard Nick Young joked.
Black scored all 14 of his points in the second half and pulled down
nine rebounds, sparking the Los Angeles Lakers, who played without
Kobe Bryant, to a 101-84 win over the Orlando Magic.
Reserve point guard Jeremy Lin finished with a team-high 18 points
and six assists, but Black was clearly the star of the show. Black,
who Los Angeles picked up after the rookie forward was waived last
month by the Houston Rockets, hit all four of his field-goal
attempts and six of seven free throws in 17 minutes. Five of his
rebounds came on the offensive end.
"That's just my thing; I play with a lot of energy," said Black, who
helped the Lakers dominate the Magic with a 60-36 rebounding edge,
including an 18-4 advantage on offensive boards. "As far as rebounds
go, I just seek the ball. When the ball goes up, I see it and go get
it. That's been my thing the whole time I've been in the NBA."
Lakers coach Byron Scott wasn't surprised by Black's exhibition.
 "What we saw in him was a physical and athletic big man," said
Scott, regarding the Lakers' scouting reports before they added him
to their roster. "As far as his basketball IQ and everything like
that, everything we got back was very positive. We're happy with the
way he played. He came in with a ton of energy and it really
elevated everyone else."
Lakers forward Carlos Boozer added 12 points and 14 rebounds as Los
Angeles (12-25) snapped a two-game losing streak. Six Lakers scored
in double figures.
Bryant missed the game because Scott decided to rest him. Lakers
forward Ryan Kelly, who replaced Bryant in the starting lineup, had
13 points and eight rebounds.
Guard Victor Oladipo scored 17 points to lead the Magic (13-26), who
lost their fifth in a row. Forward Tobias Harris had 15 points,
while center Nikola Vucevic had 14 points and 11 rebounds for
Orlando.
"We just couldn't put the ball in the basket," said Oladipo, who
connected on five of 10 shots. "Shots that were falling in the first
half weren't falling in the second half."
The Lakers dictated for much of the first half, grabbing a 29-20
lead after one quarter and taking a 54-45 lead at the break. They
limited the Magic to 37.5 percent (15 of 40) shooting in the first
half while hitting 42 percent (21 of 50) of their shots. Overall,
Los Angeles shot only 40 percent (36 of 90) to 39.5 percent (30 of
76) for the Orlando.
The Lakers allowed Orlando to creep back into the contest in the
third quarter. After trailing by as much as 12, the Magic sliced the
gap to 73-67 on forward Channing Frye's 3-point bucket with 7.7
seconds left in the period.
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Orlando closed within three to open the fourth quarter, but a 9-0
run by the Lakers pushed the lead back to double digits after Lin
converted a layup with 9:17 remaining. The Magic got no closer than
eight the rest of the way.
"They just started hitting shots; we started missing shots," Oladipo
said. "We just got to do a better job of withstanding runs like
that. We knew they were going to make a big push in the fourth
quarter."
Orlando coach Jacque Vaughn said his team needs to be more
accountable.
"It all starts with accountability and looking in the mirror,"
Vaughn said. "So that will be us as we continue to go forward. We
cut the lead to 70-73 and gave ourselves a chance, but being able to
be disciplined to play each possession, we still have a problem with
that."
NOTES: Lakers coach Byron Scott had high praise for Magic center
Nikola Vucevic. "I (believe) he's really developed into a really
true center," Scott said of the 7-foot, 260-pounder, who played
three seasons at nearby USC before Orlando acquired him from the
Philadelphia 76ers in the deal that sent Dwight Howard to Lakers.
"Runs the floor, pretty good athleticism...and he rebounds the
(heck) out of the ball. Our guys have to put a body on him at all
times." ... Lakers PG Ronnie Price returned to the starting lineup
after missing one game with a broken nose and flu. F Wesley Johnson
missed his third game with a strained right hip flexor. ... Orlando
resumes its road swing in Portland against the Trail Blazers on
Saturday, while Los Angeles hosts Portland on Sunday.
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