Lakers-Wizards Preview

By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN
Posted Dec 14 2012 12:59AM

Kobe Bryant would like to see the Los Angeles Lakers play the Washington Generals next.

That won't happen but they will instead see the league's worst team that hails from the nation's capital.

The struggling Lakers have been defenseless during a four-game losing streak heading into Friday night's road matchup with the Washington Wizards.

The Lakers (9-14) fell 116-107 at New York on Thursday, allowing the Knicks to shoot 53.2 percent for the third-highest mark against them. They yielded 68 first-half points, and have given up an average of 62.3 during this slide.

"We are having a re-occurring theme that the first quarter is just not good, and then the first half is not great and in the second half we seem to turn it on, and we need to solve that problem real quick," coach Mike D'Antoni said.

Bryant scored 31 points and leads the NBA with 29.3 per game, but Los Angeles fell to 1-11 when he scores at least 30. The Lakers are trying to avoid their first five-game skid in two seasons.

"At this point I wish we had the Washington Generals on our schedule," Bryant said.

If the Lakers want to show improvement on defense, Friday presents an ideal opportunity. Washington (3-16) is last in the NBA in scoring at 90.4 points per game and field-goal percentage at 40.7.

Los Angeles had won nine straight in this series before a 106-101 defeat in the lone meeting last season March 7.

There's reason to believe that Dwight Howard, who had 20 points and seven boards Thursday, can turn in a monster effort. Howard is averaging 24.3 points on 73.4 percent shooting and 13.4 rebounds per game in his last nine against the Wizards - all victories when he played for Orlando.

Lakers forward Pau Gasol has missed the past six games with tendinitis in his knees and remains day-to-day. Former Wizards captain Antawn Jamison has started five times in his place, and finished with three points Thursday.

Los Angeles is 2-8 on the road while Washington owns the NBA's worst home mark at 2-7.

Still, the Wizards have won three times since their 0-12 start and are eager to take advantage of the Lakers' woes.

"Everybody knows they've been kind of struggling and we look forward to take advantage of that," Washington reserve guard Shaun Livingston said. "You got to come to play and we're at home and we tend to play well at home so hopefully we can come in with a lot of momentum."

The Wizards fell 99-93 at Houston on Wednesday, although their backcourt of Jordan Crawford and rookie Bradley Beal combined for 37 points.

There are signs that Crawford and Beal are gelling. Crawford is averaging 19.5 points over his last eight games while Beal is averaging 17.5 over his last four.

"He is being more aggressive and that's the main thing," said Crawford about Beal. "He's not passing up as many shots as he was early and just being aggressive. We both have good size and we both kind of do the same thing, shooting and driving. We play off each other real well."

Bryant's 30 points help Lakers edge Wizards 102-96

By HOWARD FENDRICH
Posted Dec 14 2012 10:59PM

WASHINGTON (AP) All smiles after an all-too-rare victory, Kobe Bryant got a locker-room visit from Attorney General Eric Holder, who wanted to know how the Los Angeles Lakers' point-guard-by-default was holding up.

"I'm beat up," replied Bryant, who sat at his locker with a cold pack on his bothersome back, wraps on both knees and feet in a plastic tub filled with water and ice. "Trucking along, though."

Straining to work out the kinks in an offense coach Mike D'Antoni compared to dancing with two left feet, the Lakers ended a four-game losing streak by holding off the worst-in-the-NBA Washington Wizards 102-96 on Friday night, thanks in large part to Bryant's 30 points and seven assists, along with Jodie Meeks' 24 points.

"We're not there yet, we're not even close. We're not close to being a good team," said D'Antoni, who at one point stomped his foot in anger at his 10-14 club. "But can you build on it? I hope so."

He also called his players "lackadaisical" and "lethargic."

Bryant made only 9 of 29 shots, and he took one particularly painful tumble to the court, but his performance also included one real highlight-reel play. With a little under 1 1/2 minutes left, he sneaked in from the 3-point arc to tip in a missed free throw by Dwight Howard, who was 4 for 8 at the line and finished with 12 points and 14 rebounds.

"All night, I'm missing easy shots left and right, and I have no idea how that one went in," Bryant said.

Howard kiddingly called it "a set play ... called `12 Miss,"' a reference to his uniform number.

He and Bryant appeared to get into a heated exchange on court during a break in the action; Howard said they were discussing defensive strategy after a breakdown.

A night after joking about wanting to face the Washington Generals, the Harlem Globetrotters' longtime foils, Bryant almost got more than his team could handle against the Wizards.

Led by reserve Cartier Martin's season-high 21 points, Washington led by as many nine points in the first half and, after trailing by as many 16 in the second, closed to 92-89 on Nene's free throws with 5 1/2 minutes left in the game.

But Howard made a jump hook, and then, with 4 1/2 minutes remaining, Martell Webster was called for a foul on Bryant on a 3-point attempt, even though a replay appeared to show no contact.

"Controversial call. ... I don't agree with it," said Webster, who scored 17 points.

Said Wizards coach Randy Wittman: "I thought there were some very questionable calls down the stretch, but those things tend to do that - go their way."

Bryant made all three free throws, and the Lakers were on their way, awkward offense and all.

Before tipoff, D'Antoni offered a less-than-flattering description of his team's choreography.

"Every good offense is a rhythm, and our rhythm is offbeat right now," D'Antoni said. "It's like we've got two left shoes, trying to dance."

D'Antoni had his players do a film session and walkthrough at a ballroom at their hotel.

"I felt like we had a pretty good feel of how Mike, today at morning brunch, kind of communicated how he wanted the offense to flow. Moving the ball, and if you have a shot, take it. If not, continue to let the ball hop," Bryant said. "We got the message. We did a pretty good job of it. That's why you saw Meeks have a big game."

Neither of these teams is whole at the moment. The Lakers are still without Steve Nash and Pau Gasol, and Jordan Hill sat out Friday with back spasms. The Wizards have been without point guard John Wall, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 draft, all season, and they're also missing forwards Trevor Ariza and Trevor Booker, along with point guard A.J. Price, at the moment.

A pair of 10-0 runs by Los Angeles in the third quarter appeared to put the outcome beyond doubt.

The second spurt included eight consecutive points from Bryant, who hit a pair of free throws, a 12-foot step-back jumper - with 4 minutes left in the quarter, it was Bryant's first field goal since the final 10 seconds of the opening period - a 17-foot pull-up jumper, and then a tap-in off an alley-oop pass that made it 78-64.

On that last play, Bryant got knocked to the court. He stayed down on the baseline for a few moments, then moved around gingerly for a bit.

He stayed in, however, and kept scoring.

Afterward - and before his moment with Holder - Bryant was asked if he was excited about his team's, um, one-game winning streak.

"I am, actually," Bryant said with a loud laugh. "I am. I am. I'm very, very happy to win one ... game."

NOTES: Nene also had 17 points for the Wizards. ... Minus Gasol and Hill, D'Antoni gave F Devin Ebanks his first start of the season. Ebanks had eight points, five rebounds and five fouls in 27 minutes. ... Wall can "ramp things up" as he recovers from a stress injury to his left knee cap, Wittman said, but there's still no specific timetable for his return. Wall was re-examined in New York by Dr. David Altchek, who said Wall is showing improvement but that there is still some irritation in the knee. Altchek said Wall has been treated with three lubricating injections.

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Connect with Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich

Notebook: Lakers 102, Wizards 96

Rich Dubroff, For NBA.com
Posted Fri Dec 14, 2012 11:14 PM - Updated Fri Dec 14, 2012 11:14 PM

THE FACTS: Kobe Bryant scored 30 points, Jodie Meeks had a season-high 24 points and Dwight Howard added 12 points and 14 rebounds as the Los Angeles Lakers broke a four-game losing streak with a 102-96 win over the Washington Wizards on Friday night.

Bryant, the league's leading scorer, missed 20 of his 29 shots, but hit 11 of 13 free throws. He added seven rebounds and seven assists, playing 44 minutes for the Lakers (10-14) despite back spasms.

Cartier Martin led the Wizards, who are now 3-17, with 21 points -- one off his career high. Nene and Martell Webster each had 17.

QUOTABLE: "We're not close to being a good team."

-- Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni

THE STAT: Los Angeles avoided its first five-game losing streak since Apr. 3-10, 2011.

TURNING POINT: After Washington's Jordan Crawford made a floating jumper with 6:51 to go in the third quarter, D'Antoni called timeout, stomped out on the court and screamed at his team. The Lakers quickly built up a double-digit lead. "I just thought: lackadaisical and lethargic," D'Antoni said about his team's defense.

QUOTABLE II: "I told Steve [Nash] all night, I'm missing easy shots. I have no idea how that went in -- no clue. I was kind of under the rim and tipped it."

-- Kobe Bryant on tipping in Howard's missed free throw with 1:21 to play

.

HOT: Meeks was 9-for-14 from the field, including 4-for-7 on 3-pointers.

NOT: Bryant had a rough night from the floor. He went just 1-for-8 on 3-pointers. "He's going to shoot the ball until his arm falls off," Wizard Bradley Beal said. "I think we got the best of him a little bit, but he still scored 30 points. That's not good on our part."

GOOD MOVE: D'Antoni kept Bryant in the game for nearly 44 minutes, just as he did on Thursday in a loss at New York. The coach was afraid Bryant's back would tighten up if he sat, and without Nash, Pau Gasol, and Jordan Hill (who was a late scratch with back spasms) the Lakers had just 10 healthy players.

BAD MOVE: Beal and Crawford, Washington's starting backcourt kept shooting. They were just 7-for-24 combined.

NOTABLE: Bryant passed John Havlicek for ninth place on the all-time field goal list. He has 10,520.

IN THE ARENA: The Wizards drew their second sellout crowd of the season at 20,308. Most of them were rooting for Los Angeles. Ten days ago, Washington's game against the Heat was more than 2,000 short of a sellout.

NEXT: For the Lakers, Sunday @ Sixers, Tuesday vs. Hornets Dec. 22 @ Warriors. For the Wizards, Saturday @ Heat, Tuesday vs. Hawks, Wednesday @ Magic.

• Lakers: Blake, Johnson-Odom, Nash
• Wizards: Booker, Wall

• Lakers: --
• Wizards: --

• Lead Changes: 4
• Times Tied: 7

• Arena: Verizon Center, Washington, DC
• Officials: #12 Violet Palmer, #38 Michael Smith, #31 Scott Wall
• Attendance: 20308
• Duration: 2:11