The Los Angeles Lakers have struggled to find their way over the past week without Anthony Davis. After losing him in the second quarter of their Feb. 14 loss against the Denver Nuggets, the Lakers have lost three of their last four games. Now they welcome a team playing some of their best basketball of the young season in the Washington Wizards, who are entering Monday night’s game riding a season-best four-game win streak.
Bradley Beal, the NBA’s leading scorer, as well as Russell Westbrook, are instrumental to Washington’s success. Washington has also been better since going to a starting lineup of Garrison Matthews and Moritz Wagner in the frontcourt, alongside Rui Hachimura, helping give more space for Beal and Westbrook to work.
However, their defense has also seen a boost lately as their opponents haven’t shot the ball well from the 3-point line. In only one of their last four wins has an opponent shot over 35% from the 3-point line. The Lakers have struggled from the outside lately themselves so the Wizards will be looking to force the Lakers into another difficult night offensively.
Hitting outside shots will help the Lakers but with the way the Wizards are playing, coming by easy looks might not be as easy as it looks on paper.
Here’s when you should tune in to see the game:
- Date: Feb. 22
- Time: 10:00 p.m. ET
- TV Channel: NBA TV
- Live Stream: fuboTV (watch for free)
- Spread via BetMGM: Lakers -6.5
Injury Report
Anthony Davis is out for the next four weeks with a calf strain. The Lakers did not submit the rest of their injury report as of Sunday evening, according to the NBA. Ish Smith is out with a quad strain for the Wizards while Thomas Bryant is out for the season after knee surgery.
Miami Heat (10-17)
- Rui Hachimura
- Garrison Matthews
- Moritz Wagner
- Bradley Beal
- Russell Westbrook
Los Angeles Lakers (22-9)
- LeBron James
- Kyle Kuzma
- Marc Gasol
- Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
- Wesley Matthews
This post originally appeared on LeBron Wire! Follow us on Facebook!