ORLANDO, Florida - Vince Carter second 25 points and the Orlando Magic held off a late rally to edge the Los Angeles Lakers 96-94 on Sunday in a rematch of last season's NBA Finals opponents.

The Lakers lost for the third time in a row, something they had not done since obtaining Spanish star Pau Gasol in February of 2008, and dropped their fourth consecutive road game to stand at 46-18, second-best in the NBA.

Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson each added 15 points for the Magic, who won for the fifth time in a row.

Lakers star Kobe Bryant scored a game-high 34 points, 18 of them in the fourth quarter, despite a stomach illness that kept him on the bench much of the second quarter.

Gasol, who scored 20 points, tipped-in a Bryant miss to pull the Lakers within 93-89 with 48 seconds to play. Howard added a free throw for Orlando but Bryant responded with a 3-pointer as Los Angeles pulled within 94-92.

Lakers standout Ron Artest, his hair dyed blonde with the word "defense" painted in black in three languages, then fouled Nelson, who hit 1-of-2 free throws to stretch the lead to 95-92.

Bryant sank a long shot thinking it was a game-tying 3-pointer but a video replay review showed his right foot was on the 3-point arc and therefore the basket was only a 2-pointer, leaving the Lakers one point down with 12.9 seconds remaining.

Carter was fouled with 9.7 seconds remaining and missed his first free throw after starting 12-for-12 at the line, but he hit the second free throw to produce the final margin.

Bryant missed at the buzzer and the Magic escaped with a victory.

The Lakers beat the Magic in January at Los Angeles in the club's first meeting since denying Orlando the title in last year's NBA Finals.