March 28, 2017

John Wall scored 34 points while dishing out 14 assists, as the Wizards had a huge 4th quarter rally to defeat the Lakers 119-108 at Staples Center on Tuesday.

The Lakers led by as many as 16 in the 3rd quarter, and 13 heading into the 4th quarter.  However, Washington outscored LA 37-13 in the 4th.

“We just missed some early shots and turned it over and it snowballed from there,” Laker coach Luke Walton said.

D’Angelo Russell scored 28 points for the Lakers, and Jordan Clarkson added 22.  “He was great tonight,” Walton said of Russell. “He was brilliant. Some of the passing he had.”

The Lakers fell behind early in this one.  They trailed by 12 halfway through the 1st quarter, but an 8-0 run capped by a David Nwaba layup tied the game after the 1st quarter.  By halftime, the Lakers had built a 3 point lead.

A 14-3 run starting with 9:23 left in the third quarter gave the Lakers their first double-digit lead of the game.

“It was beautiful,” Walton said of the Lakers’ third quarter.  “The way the ball was moving. They were just reading off each other. Guys were ready to make quick passes. Guys were flashing. . . . Unfortunately the fourth quarter started with us missing some open looks that we had been hitting and then we had some turnovers. . . . They cut into that lead without even really having to get hot.”

The Lakers didn’t score for the first 2:05 of the 4th quarter.  Washington scored nine straight points to cut into the LA lead.  Late in the 4th, Wall stole the ball from Russell, then dunked it at the other end of the floor to tie the game at 101-101.  That changed the momentum that the Lakers couldn’t recover from.

The Suns lost on Tuesday night as well.  That means the Lakers remained .5 games behind Phoenix in the Standings.