Lakers drop their 3rd straight game in a sloppy OT loss to the Wizards.
The Lakers headed to overtime for the 4th time this season after surrendering a 3rd quarter 17 point lead to the Washington Wizards and played completely sloppily out-of-sync basketball in the 4th quarter of tonight’s ballgame to lose 127–124 to the Wizards. The Lakers have lost 4 of their last 5 games and are now on a 3 game losing streak moving their overall record to 22–10.
The Lakers came into tonight’s game looking to shake off a 2 game losing streak and most of the night it looked like the Lakers were going to come away with a victory, but the Lakers let the Wizards stay around. The Lakers had a huge 17 point lead midway in the 3rd quarter and let that lead slip away to Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal who combined for 65 points on the night. The Wizards starting backcourt had all 12 points in overtime, 6 coming from Beal and 6 from Westbrook both combing for 6–8 from the field. The Lakers shot 30% in overtime going 3–10 as a whole and scoring 9 points. You have to tip your hat for the Washington Wizards, they overcame a 17 point deficit tonight and are currently on a 5-game win streak.
LeBron James was looking to have another huge night with 2 of the Lakers top players out for another game (Dennis Schroder and Anthony Davis). In 43 minutes James had 31 points, 13 assists, and 9 rebounds as he was 1 rebound shy of a triple-double. James shot 48% from the field (14–29) but had another off night shooting from the perimeter going 2–10 (20%) and finished the night with 8 turnovers.
Lebron James had another night playing 40 plus minutes, this would be the 4th time this month he has surpassed that feat all coming from the Lakers overtime games. There is a lot of talks surrounding the workload of LeBron James with the media constantly asking head coach Frank Vogel about the minute restriction of LeBron James and possibly giving him rest throughout the season with it being his 18th season. James spoke about the possibility of resting and missing games saying:
“This whole narrative of (I) need more rest, I don’t talk about it. I don’t believe in it. We all need more rest, shit. But I’m here to work, to punch my clock in and be available to my teammates. I’ve never asked for time off, or time throughout the season. It’s grown to the point where it’s not even from me anymore. I’ve been hearing for five, six, seven years now and I’m still going strong. I’m not looking for a handout.”
Kyle Kuzma notched his 7th double-double of the season in tonight’s loss to the Washington Wizards. In 37 minutes, Kyle Kuzma finished with 14 points, 11 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Kuzma couldn’t find much of a rhythm shooting going 4–11 (36%) from 3 and 5–16 (31%) total from the field. Outside of his shooting woes on the night Kyle Kuzma provided another night with a great energetic defense on the night, look for Kuzma to have a huge night in the next upcoming games as he stays in the Lakers lineup for the injured Anthony Davis. Kuzma was asked by the media after tonight’s loss about the Lakers rough stretch as of late:
“Shit happens. It’s life. It’s not about getting kicked down, but trying to get back up. We’ll figure it out.”
One of the biggest issues on the night for this Lakers team was the sloppy turnovers. The Lakers had 20 total turnovers on the night and allowed the Wizards to get to the foul line fouling them 29 times to take 33 total free throws. Defensively the Lakers finished with 9 steals and 11 blocks, but that wasn’t enough to stop 65 points coming from the Wizards starting backcourt.
The Lakers took a total of 104 shots on the night finishing with 47% from the field. They had another horrible night shooting from the 3 point arc going 15–44. Heading into the half the Lakers looked great from the perimeter, going 8–19 (42%) and 25–49 (51%) from the field goal. It was the 2nd half and overtime that determined the outcome of tonight’s loss for the Lakers. They shot 7–25 (28%) from the 3 in the 2nd half and overtime of tonight’s loss.
Coming into tonight’s game Kentavious Caldwell-Pope only had 34 points in the past 4 games. Tonight he had a very quiet 21 points on 8–15 (53%) shooting from the field and a solid 4–8 (50%) from 3.
The Lakers had a game-high 51 total bench points on the night. Last season’s 6th man of the year Montrezl Harrell provided another needed spark off the bench for this Lakers squad. Harrell finished with a near double-double of 26 points and 9 rebounds on 10–17 (59%) shooting from the field and 6–7 (85%) from the free-throw line.
Alex Caruso tied his season-high on the night finishing with 11 points, 3 assists, and 4 rebounds in 31 minutes. The Lakers will be relying on Caruso to come in and provide much-needed minutes with Dennis Schroder out for the next couple of games and provide a spark off the bench.
The Lakers will now travel to Utah to take on the biggest test of the season to face the best team in the NBA, the Utah Jazz. The Utah Jazz are currently 25–6 and are coming off a win against the Charlotte Hornets. The Lakers will be tested as they look to play another game without Dennis Schroder and try to end their current losing streak of 3 games against the Utah Jazz.