Lakers beat Wizards 120-101 in Los Angeles

If there was any night for Luka Doncic to not be available for as he served a one-game suspension for an accumulation of technical fouls, and any games the Lakers didn’t need him, Monday was the night.

Because even with Doncic being an MVP candidate and playing his best basketball of the season over the last month, the Lakers didn’t need him to take care of business against the tanking and lowly Wizards.

It was evident in the Lakers’ 120-101 victory on Monday at Crypto.com Arena during a game in which contributions from throughout the roster led the team to its 15th win in the last 17 games despite Doncic not playing.

LeBron James led the Lakers with a 21 point-12 assist-10 rebound triple-double, surpsssing his own record as the oldest player in league history to record a triple-double.

Tasked with more ball-handling duties, Austin Reaves struggled with his shot (4 of 11, 0 of 4 on 3-pointers) but made up for it with his inside the arc scoring and playmaking, finishing with 19 points and nine assists in 27 minutes.

Luke Kennard (19 points), Jaxson Hayes (19 points, seven rebounds and 2 blocked shots), Rui Hachimura (14 points, 6 rebounds) and Deandre Ayton (12 points on 5-of-5 shooting to go with 7 rebounds and 3 blocked shots) also scored in double figures.

The Lakers shot 55.7% (44 of 79) against the Wizards, who are tied with the Pacers for the league’s worst record.

What it means

The Lakers improved to 49-26 on the season with Monday’s victory. 

But with the Suns also beating Grizzlies, the Lakers have yet to officially clinch a spot in the playoffs and win the Pacific Division. 

Turning point

There were two.

The first came when Jaxson Hayes dunked in transition at the 9:25 mark of the second quarter, cutting the Lakers’ deficit to 31-29 after a slower start. The play energized the Lakers on a night they lacked energy early, starting an 11-0 run.

The second was when James passed to Bronny James, his son who’s been getting rotation minutes the last few games, with the shot clock winding down late in the third quarter. 

The younger James drove into the paint off the pass from his father, kicking out to Luke Kennard for a corner 3 to put the Lakers up 84-71 after the Wizards cut the Lakers’ 24-point lead earlier in the quarter to 10 multiple times.  

MVP: Jaxson Hayes

It’s rare for a backup center to receive this honor. 

And Hayes’ counting stats weren’t the best among the Lakers. But he injected the Lakers with an energy that they lacked early. 

He shot a perfect 8 of 8 from the field.

The cherry on top: Hayes made his third 3-pointer of the season midway through the fourth. 

Stat of the game: 1,228

That’s how many combined regular-season and playoff wins James has after Monday’s victory, which is tied for the most in league history with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Already the league’s all-time leader in games played, Monday was James’ 1,044th regular-season win, 30 away from Abdul-Jabbar’s record.

But James’ league-record 184 playoff victories helped him tie Abdul-Jabbar’s combined regular season and postseason record.

James would’ve already surpassed Abdul-Jabbar in combined victories if the league counted his three play-in tournament wins and 202 NBA Cup final victory. 

Up next

The Lakers will close out their back-to-back set when they Cavaliers on Tuesday.

The Cavaliers are also playing on the second night of a back-to-back after beating the Jazz in Salt Lake City for their sixth win in their last seven games.

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