There is NBA action on Monday, March 24 that sees a couple of teams trying to prepare for the playoff push sharing the court as the Los Angeles Lakers visit the Orlando Magic at the Kia Center in Orlando, Fla.
The game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. EDT and will be broadcast on NBA TV and FanDuel Sports Network Florida. Fans looking to watch this NBA game can do so for free by using DirecTV Stream, which offers a free trial, or FuboTV, which also offers a free trial and up to $30 off your first month. SlingTV doesn’t offer a free trial but has promotional offers available.
The Lakers are in a dog fight our West to determine the second through fifth seeds with the Houston Rockets, Denver Nuggets and Memphis Grizzlies, who are all within 2.5 games of each other. Los Angeles is currently in fourth, half a game ahead of the Grizzlies, a game behind the Nuggets and two games back of the Rockets. The Lakers are look to reverse course on a two-game losing streak that has them sitting at 43-27 overall.
The Magic are eighth in the East at 33-38. While it looks likely that they will be in the play-in, there is still some positioning that needs to be determined as the Atlanta Hawks are two games ahead of the Magic for the seven seed and the Chicago Bulls are two games back of the Magic for the eight, and potentially making Orlando need two play-in victories to reach the playoffs.
When these teams played their first matchup in November, a Franz Wagner three-pointer in the final seconds secured the Magic an 119-118 win.
WATCH THE GAME FOR FREE HERE
Who: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Orlando Magic
When: Monday, March 24 at 7 p.m. EDT
Where: Kia Center in Orlando, Fla.
Stream: FuboTV (free trial); Sling; DirecTV Stream (free trial)
Betting: Check out our MA sports betting guide, where you can learn basic terminology, definitions and how to read odds for those interested in learning how to bet in Massachusetts.
What is FuboTV?
FuboTV is an internet television service that offers more than 200 channels across sports and entertainment including Paramount+ with SHOWTIME. From the UEFA Champions League to the WNBA to international tournaments ranging across sports, there’s plenty of options available on FuboTV, which offers a free trial and up to $30 off the first month for new customers.
What is DirecTV Stream?
DirecTV Stream offers practically everything DirecTV provides, except for a remote and a streaming device to connect to your television. Sign up now and get three free months of premium channels including MAX, Paramount+ with SHOWTIME and Starz.
What is SlingTV?
SlingTV offers a variety of live programing ranging from news and sports and starting as low as $20 a month for your first month. Subscribers also get a month of DVR Plus free if they sign up now. Choose from a variety of sports packages without long-term contracts and with easy cancelation.
RELATED CONTENT:
LeBron James returns from 7-game injury absence, and nothing else goes right in Lakers' blowout loss
By GREG BEACHAM AP Sports Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) — LeBron James returned from a two-week injury absence Saturday night, looking rested and ready to lead the Los Angeles Lakers down the stretch toward the postseason.
And then almost nothing else went right for the Lakers during a 146-115 thrashing from the Chicago Bulls.
“We’ve got to play better basketball than we did tonight, and what we did on our last road trip,” James said before the Lakers headed out on a four-game trip beginning in Orlando on Monday.
James scored 17 points after missing the Lakers' previous seven games with a strained left groin, but the top scorer in NBA history looked rusty in certain moments — particularly late in the first quarter, when he threw a long sideline inbounds pass that curled out of bounds without ever getting close to one of his teammates.
But James' return was just one part of a comprehensively poor effort by the Lakers, who took their second straight loss and hit the latest trough in their peaks-and-valleys season since acquiring Luka Doncic.
Not even the simultaneous return of starting forward Rui Hachimura, who had missed 12 games with a knee injury, could make the Lakers competitive against the inspired Bulls.
“I don’t know if we assumed because we had everybody back that it was just going to be like it was three weeks ago, and that’s just not how this works,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “The thing that we have talked about all season long, though, is grace, so the group inherently gets some grace for what these last three weeks has looked like. (But) that was the worst our defense has looked, frankly, all year, but certainly in the last three months.”
Indeed, the Lakers have been one of the NBA’s best teams for long stretches with their new superstar duo — but they’ve also had enough terrible outings to suggest there’s much more work to do. Their schedule also has been absolutely brutal: They’re in a stretch of 20 games in five weeks, and they just played five home games in seven days.
The 40-year-old James is still confident the Lakers will find the best version of themselves. They had won eight games in a row before James' injury, and they put together a three-game winning streak earlier this week before his return.
“I already know what this team is capable of,” James said. “No matter who’s been in the lineup, who’s been out of the lineup, we’ve been able to sustain our effort and try to continue to play the right way, both offensively and defensively. It was great to see, even through some of the adversity, even through the injuries and the schedule, we were still able to win ballgames.”
James was noncommittal about the state of his recovery from the groin injury, which happened late in the Lakers' loss at defending champion Boston on March 8. Los Angeles promptly lost all four games on that road trip, but recovered to win three straight at home before its current two-game skid.
“I just take it day by day,” James said of his injury. “I can’t work out what’s going to happen in the future, but obviously I got some work on it today. Hopefully a little more on the plane. It’s a long flight to Orlando, and then I’ll get ready for Monday. I hope it’s behind, but I won’t look too far in the future.”
Before his injury, James averaged 25.0 points, 8.5 assists and 8.2 rebounds during his record-tying 22nd NBA season.
Hachimura is the Lakers' fourth-leading scorer with 13.3 points per game, but he scored five points in only 18 minutes during his comeback game. He said his knee is “70, 80 percent” healthy, but he can’t wait for it to heal fully.
“Our defense was awful today,” Hachimura said. “We weren’t locked in, and our game plans, we didn’t execute. They were getting everything — 3s, transition, layups, whatever. I think we’ve just got to focus on defense. Our offense is going to be fine. We know that.”
Los Angeles lost to Milwaukee on Thursday while Doncic and Austin Reaves also sat out, leaving the Lakers without four usual starters to play their sixth game in eight days. Doncic and Reaves combined for 59 points against Chicago, but their teammates couldn’t keep up.
“We just haven’t had a lot of time with our full team available,” Redick said. “We’ve had to manage this all season long, no matter which iteration of this team it’s been. So I’m excited for these last 13 games to build some continuity, build some chemistry, and hopefully the way we were playing prior to the Boston game, we can kind of get back to that.”
The Associated Press contributed to this article