It was an exciting win over the Toronto Raptors, but the Lakers were on short rest as they traveled to Washington. The Wizards were coming off a loss to the Knicks on Friday and were looking to get things back on track.
Los Angeles was dominant in the first quarter and had the lead at halftime. In fact, they led by 16 in the fourth quarter and were on their way to their second straight win. Remember, they haven’t had back-to-back wins since January 4th-7th (against Sacramento and Atlanta).
Enter the collapse. All of the momentum the Lakers had was sucked out by the Wizards. Maybe Kristaps Porziņģis put a spell on them?
It seemed like he did, anyway. Porzingis finished with 27 points, including 16 in the fourth quarter. His team came back and outscored the Lakers in the fourth on their way to the 127-119 win.
Former Laker Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 17 points, which was an improvement compared to the last time he faced his former team. Daniel Gafford had 17 points and six rebounds off the bench.
As for Los Angeles, LeBron James finished with 38 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists. He passed Karl Malone for second on the all-time scoring list with his performance.
Russell Westbrook finished with 22/10/8.
With the loss, the Lakers fall to 30-41 and are on the verge of finishing under .500 for the season.
My Thoughts
First off, congratulations to the King for passing Malone on the all-time scoring list. It adds to the list of milestones that he has been able to check off. LeBron only needs 1,441 points to pass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the overall top spot.
? LeBron receives a standing ovation after moving into 2nd All-Time in Scoring!
— NBA (@NBA) March 20, 2022
Watch Now on NBA League Pass: https://t.co/oz9UCQxdQa pic.twitter.com/u5A0XTlXLj
In regards to the game, it was nice to see the Lakers play well… For three and a half quarters.
Frank Vogel deserves some blame for the loss. After all, why didn’t he insert Dwight Howard in the game to guard Porziņģis? There were times when Westbrook had to guard the 7’3″ Latvian, and he’s a foot shorter!
Porzingis drains the CLUTCH 3 for the @WashWizards! pic.twitter.com/4XA9oXKq81
— NBA (@NBA) March 20, 2022
I understand that Russ had to guard Kristaps on the switch. But, regardless if it was LeBron or Russ guarding him, it was still a mismatch. Bringing Dwight in would give the team size and guarding the Wizards big man becomes less of a struggle.
This small ball experiment will and will not work at times. This game is an example of it not working.
Statistically, the Lakers outrebounded the Wizards 41-36. But, there were possessions where Washington was getting multiple offensive rebounds and converting on second-chance buckets. Los Angeles needs to participate in some sort of rebounding drills because you cannot give the opposing team multiple chances to score.
Hats off to the Wizards for only turning the ball over eight times.
Westbrook turned in another efficient performance, even hitting on two three-pointers. Could we see a replication of last year where he turned it up during the final stretch of the regular season?
Am I surprised by this loss? Not exactly. Whenever the Lakers win a game, they end up losing the next one. It’s like they afraid of winning consecutive games.
Player of the Game
Kristaps Porziņģis. The Unicorn himself. 27 points, five assists, and three rebounds. He was 9/17 from the floor.
Up Next
On Monday, LeBron heads back to his hometown of Cleveland to face the Cavaliers. Let’s hope a losing streak does not begin.
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