Two days after Lakers We used to say it would never be easy, and he never came to town.
The Washington Wizards, who won the league six times, were the cure for the Lakers after Sunday’s loss to the Clippers, which revealed a number of weaknesses. Post-game morale was low, LeBron James and JJ Redick Openly discuss how they list It will not be able to improve the already narrow margin of error organically.
But with the midpoint of the season here on Tuesday, the Lakers have played the only team in the NBA badly enough to make anyone — even the Lakers — feel like they’ve got it figured out.
The Lakers did the right things consistently over four quarters, and were barely threatened before Winning 111-88 In a game they had to play hard before hosting Boston on Thursday night.
“It starts with a very professional approach from our team,” Reddick said. “That was one of our most complete games, no matter what time of season it was or who the opponent was. Like, we had a really professional approach.”
The Wizards (6-36), in the early stages of a rebuild with an eye on the top of the NBA draft, have not won since Jan. 1. Kyle Kuzma and Jordan Poole are their top offensive options, backup center Jonas Valanciunas and forward Corey Kispert are the only other veterans Washington is fully committed to for the future.
Read more: LeBron says Lakers must play nearly perfect to win: ‘This is how our team is built’
Compared to the Lakers (23-18), whose eyes are squarely on the present, that made Tuesday predictably one-sided — though the Lakers still need to execute.
Anthony Davis scored 29 points and grabbed 16 rebounds while beating rookie Alex Sarr. James, who watched his beloved Ohio State team win the College Football Playoff National Championship on Monday in Atlanta, notched his ninth triple-double of the season with 21 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds. Austin Reaves, despite a 4-for-15 shooting night, finished with 16 points and eight assists, and Dorian Finney-Smith scored 16 points off the bench in just 22 minutes.
The Lakers did this by attacking the paint and finding the open man, and the team scored on more than a handful of high shots.
“It’s just…being ready to make passes on time, on goal,” James said. “And when we do that, we look good.”
The highlight came when Reeves passed the ball to James off an offensive rebound, with the 40-year-old Lakers star dunking on Valanciunas.
“I got the hype. I was screaming so loud, I almost fainted,” Davis said. “I mean it wasn’t one of his best works, but I’ve seen better ones. But it was a good idea.”
The Lakers held Washington to 35.8% shooting from the field and 25.6% from three points and limited the Wizards to 11 points in the fourth quarter.
“We came out, had a game plan, and we executed it,” James said. “I thought defensively, we were great. We were in tune with what they wanted to do, what they tried to do. Offensively, we shared the ball, we cut down on the passes. We were really good.”
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This story originally appeared on Los Angeles Times.
