After coming back from a big deficit to defeat the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday, the Los Angeles Lakers faced the Washington Wizards on Thursday. Given that the Wizards were on a 12-game losing streak, one may have thought the Lakers would’ve gotten themselves an easy win.
Instead, they had a relapse of the ailment that has afflicted them throughout the season — the inability or unwillingness to play hard and be focused when facing an inferior team.
The Wizards came out surprisingly competitive in the early minutes of this game. They led 27-19 late in the first quarter, and they were still up 58-52 with just over four minutes left in the first half. While the Lakers did rally a bit to take a 70-69 lead at halftime, their focus and interest level seemed spotty, especially since they were outscored by nine in fast-break points and allowed Jordan Poole to score 20 points off the bench.
The Lakers were never quite able to take true control of the contest, despite taking a two-possession lead multiple times. Washington actually went ahead 123-120 with just over two minutes left in the fourth quarter, and it took the Lakers an extra five minutes in order to escape with a 134-131 overtime win.
While they were outscored from the 3-point line, as usual — this time, the discrepancy was 27 points in that category — they did attempt and make twice as many free throws as the Wizards. But Los Angeles cannot keep putting forth such lackadaisical efforts against teams with worse records than it if it is to make the playoffs.
Still, a win is a win, and the team now has a 33-28 record and is still in ninth place in the Western Conference, although it is just half a game ahead of the 10th-place Golden State Warriors.