The Los Angeles Lakers shot the ball well but could not help but shoot themselves in the foot with costly turnovers against the Washington Wizards. On Tuesday night, John Wall finished with over 30 points for the third consecutive game, and the Wizards broke the Lakers’ three game winning streak.
Jordan Farmar led the Lakers off the bench with 22 points on 9-11 shooting and eight assists. The Lakers battled until late and had a look at a game-tying 3-pointer, but Nick Young’s long-range effort was wide right. With the loss, the Lakers fell to 1-5 on the road and 7-8 on the season.
Young and Farmar continued to be the Lakers’ top contributors off the bench with the two LA-natives combining for 38 points off the bench. However, offense was not the issue, as the Lakers shot 53 percent from the field and 46 percent from behind the arc.
The Lakers lost Tuesday’s game by playing porous defense and turning the ball over. LA recorded 17 turnovers over the 48 minutes, and those turnovers directly led to 28 points for the Wizards. In turn, the Lakers forced 10 turnovers and scored 15 points off Washington’s mistakes.
“Every time we turned it over, it turned into a fast break lay-up,” Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni lamented after the game. “I didn’t think we were gritty [on defense].”
Defensively, the Lakers were unable to consistently stop Wall or Nene. Wall finished with a game-high 31 points, and Nene was close behind with 30 points. The duo scored more than half of the Wizards’ points. Washington’s bench contributed a lowly seven points on the night, but the Lakers' were unable to take advantage of their superior depth.
Ultimately, the loss hurt the Lakers more because it was a winnable game. The Lakers led by one point less than two minutes remaining.
“We should have won tonight,” D’Antoni summed up the night.
The Lakers do not have much time to dwell on the loss, however, as LA will be in Brooklyn to face the Nets on Wednesday.
