The Wizards walked into Capital One Arena Sunday evening riding a five-game home winning streak against the Lakers. But this time around, Anthony Davis was too much to handle. He dropped 55 points and 17 rebounds, leading the Lakers to a 130-119 victory over the Wizards.
This game was peculiar from the start. The Lakers jumped out to a quick 10-4 lead, and the Wizards responded with an 11-0 burst. Not to be outdone, the Lakers then followed that up with a 17-2 run of their own.
The problems piled on for the Wizards. Three and a half minutes after tipoff, Bradley Beal was subbed out with an injury and headed to the locker room. It was later announced that he had right hamstring tightness and was questionable to return to the game. He did not return. Postgame, Wizards head coach Wes Unseld Jr. said the team was still evaluating Beal's status and a recovery timetable would be determined later.
Combine Beal's injury with an ice-cold shooting first half from deep and it was tough for the Wizards to get their offense in a rhythm. Deni Avdija, Kristaps Porzingis, Will Barton, and Kyle Kuzma combined to shoot 0-for-16 from deep. It was just one of those nights from behind the arc.
Not only was Kuzma struggling with his shot early on, but he also was battling foul trouble. He picked up his third foul with 7:14 left in the second quarter, thus making it difficult for him to remain aggressive. At halftime, the Lakers led 68-50.
The third quarter was largely a struggle for the Wizards. Porzingis came out of the break looking for his shot, which helped the team establish some success on the offensive side of the floor, but Davis was an offensive monster and helped boost the Lakers' lead up to 105-81 heading into the final period.
Kuzma came to life in a major way in the fourth quarter, scoring 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field, and helped the Wizards cut the lead to nine points with six minutes left in the game. Unfortunately, Kuzma picked up his sixth foul less than two minutes later, forcing him to watch the remainder of the game from the bench. With neither Beal nor Kuzma on the court, the Wizards couldn't score at a high enough clip to keep up with the pace Davis and LeBron James were gunning at.
Davis finished the game with 55 points on 22-of-30 shooting from the field to go along with 17 rebounds and three blocks, while James added 29 points, eight rebounds, and six assists. James put the final nail in the coffin with one of his signature one-handed slams, giving the Lakers an 18-point lead with 3:30 left in the contest.
Final score: Lakers 130, Wizards 119.
"The combination of pick-and-rolls between [Davis], LeBron, and Westbrook, it's the strength of that team," said Wizards head coach Wes Unseld Jr. "We didn't handle that very well. We tried to make some adjustments, and we didn't do that very well either."
Porzingis finished the game with a team-high 27 points on 11-of-25 shooting from the field to go along with nine rebounds and three assists. Kuzma was right behind him with 26 points of his own. Daniel Gafford also had a nice night, scoring 19 points on an efficient 9-of-10 shooting from the field with a couple of ferocious dunks to boot.
Next up for the Wizards is a road game against a struggling Chicago Bulls squad on Wednesday night.