Lakers demolish woeful Wizards

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Not every game is automatic and losing can come to you, big or small, on any given night. When you're playing one of the worst teams in the NBA, in this case, the Washington Wizards, your chances of automatic is high. 

The Lakers did that and more with a bounceback demolishing on Thursday night, handing the Wizards their 16th straight loss in a blowout 134-96 road win, improving their record to 27-19.

“We were the instigators...” head coach JJ Redick said. “We played angry. Overall, the execution was great.”

Here are some takeaways from the Lakers dominating win over the Wizards:

Strong Start from the Jump to the Final Horn

Playing the Wizards was the match following a disappointing 118-104 loss to an undermanned Sixers team that had Anthony Davis (abdominal muscle strain) leave in the first quarter.

The Lakers wasted no time setting the tone early in the Capital One Arena, scoring 20 of their 42 points inside the paint in the opening quarter. 

The emphatic jump-start pushed L.A. to an early 14-point lead, making 61% of their buckets from the field while also hitting five of their first 10 attempts from 3-point range. 

One of those threes came midway in the first from the Wizards center court logo. On the fast break, LeBron James pulled a heat check three from the logo with the shot clock far from ending at 20 seconds, hitting nothing but the bottom.

The second quarter is when the Lakers pushed their lead further, outscoring Washington 36-16 behind James and Rui Hachimura, who each had 17 points at halftime.

The one-sided slugfest led L.A. to score their highest points in a half with a 78-45 lead.

The Lakers kept their foot on the gas in the second half, reaching their biggest lead (42) in the third quarter, which helped rest 40-year-old James the entire fourth quarter.

Austin Reaves finished with 17 points, six rebounds and five assists, while Jaxson Hayes, who is filling in for Davis down low, had a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double.

Shake Milton led the way with the second unit and took over the ball-handling role with Gabe Vincent still out of the lineup (left knee contusion), scoring 21 points (four rebounds, four assists) on 7-for-8 shooting in 27 minutes off the bench.

"It's a big deal when three of your top seven guys are out of the lineup and you can bring guys in that haven't been in the rotation,” Redick said. “I thought Shake [Milton] in particular led that.”

Rui Hachimura’s Outing in His First NBA Home

Hachimura, 26, called Washington his home in the first four years of his NBA career, getting drafted 9th overall by the Wizards in the 2019 NBA draft before coming (via trade) to L.A., giving his former team and the fans who used to cheer for him a remember me showing.

His efficient night led to hitting four-of-five shots from 3-point range, hitting 9-for-12 total shots from the field. He finished second on the Lakers with 22 points.

Anthony Davis Named All-Star Reserve Before Game

Davis was named to his 10 career all-star minutes before the Lakers tip-off in Washington. This is his fourth all-star selection in a Lakers uniform, representing L.A. as a Western Conference reserve. 

In 42 games, Davis has averaged 25.7 points, 11.9 rebounds and 2.1 blocks. Davis is also in the top 5 in double-doubles (32) and has scored 30+ points in 18 games. 

Davis is out of the lineup and will be re-evaluated in a week to determine the degree of his abdominal muscle strain injury.

Next Game 

The Lakers will travel to New York for the fifth road game of their six-game Grammy tour on Saturday (5:30 p.m.) against the Knicks.

The Knicks are 3rd in the East with a 32-16 record and have won five straight. They are 17-8 at home, which ranks 2nd in the East.