Sometimes, a well-timed loss can be the best result for a team. It's counterintuitive in theory, I know, but for the Los Angeles Lakers, falling 119-118 in heartbreaking fashion to Franz Wagner and the Orlando Magic was about the best thing that could've happened to them.
15 games into the 2024-25 regular season, the Lakers have been the epitome of hot and cold—and they can now begin the crucial process of figuring out what their baseline will be.
Los Angeles entered the matchup with Orlando at 10-4, boasting a pristine 7-0 record at home. It was also in the midst of a six-game winning streak that directly followed a 1-4 record accumulated across a five-game road trip, which transpired after a 3-0 start to the season.
Through 14 games, the Lakers hadn't shown any semblance of consistency—outside of reaching extreme levels of success or turbulence for extended periods, with no middle ground.
It's encouraging that the Lakers can rip off winning streaks of three and six games, and that will ideally come into play again as the season progresses. It's also inspiring to see a team recover from four losses in five games by winning six in a row.
The loss to the Magic, however, offered the perfect opportunity for head coach JJ Redick and the Lakers to hit the reset button and figure out exactly who they'll consistently be in 2024-25.
119-118 loss to Magic gifts Lakers a chance to discover consistency
Going 7-0 at home is an incredible feat, but the first loss was destined to occur at some point. It's better for the home-court advantage to be fractured in a one-point loss against one of the best young players in the NBA in November rather than when the team had convinced itself it was invincible later in the year.
The Lakers don't need to return to the drawing board, but they've been given an essential reminder that home games aren't guaranteed wins.
This isn't to say that hubris was Los Angeles' undoing, as the team's Big Three missing a combined eight free throws in a one-point loss did the trick. Instead, it's simply acknowledging that the highs and lows of an NBA season are inevitably encountered by every franchise.
Ending two long winning streaks—six games overall, as well as seven at home—can thus be qualified as losses with a silver lining this early in the season.
With the winning streaks over and the pressure of maintaining them erased, Los Angeles can shift its focus to each individual game as its own event. The timing couldn't be better for that change in mentality and priorities.
As fate would have it, the next opponent on the Lakers' schedule is the one they can't seem to figure out: Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets.
A win over Jokic and the Nuggets would be the biggest of the Lakers' season thus far, primarily due to the fact that they've been knocked out of the playoffs by them two years in a row. A loss would mean very little in November, but a win would set quite a tone for Redick's first season.
Regardless of what transpires against Denver, the Lakers have proven they can piece together wins and losses in succession. Now, they must learn to navigate the highs and lows of an 82-game schedule.