On Thursday evening, the Los Angeles Lakers gave up nearly 70 points in the first half, as John Wall, Bradley Beal and the Washington Wizards raced out ahead and never looked back to claim a 111-95 victory in the nation's capital.
John Wall with another emphatic rejection. pic.twitter.com/O6A41gEW5b— Scott Charlton (@Scott_Charlton) November 10, 2017
Wall finished the night with a game-high 23 points to go along with eight rebounds, six assists, two steals and three blocks, while Beal finished with 22 points, six assists and five rebounds in the victory.
Lonzo Ball flirted with becoming the youngest player to ever record a triple-double, but the 20-year-old came up short when his night ended with 10 points, eight assists and eight rebounds in 29 minutes on the court. Ball committed four turnovers and even air-balled a three-pointer late, so this didn't seem like the right time to record a first career triple-double. To help balance the turnovers, Ball did also have two steals on the night.
Lonzo going right after John Wall pic.twitter.com/mNpfujsU3G— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) November 10, 2017
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Still, the Lakers were trailing by about 20 points when Ball would have possibly hit the historic mark, so it would have been odd to celebrate history in the face of overwhelming defeat.
While the Lakers did not give the game away in the first quarter like they did a night earlier in Boston, they did give the game away in the first half. Sixty-nine points in the first half gave the Lakers a mountainous task to come away with their first win of the road trip. Add in that it was the second night of back-to-back for the Lakers, and a second half comeback never seemed likely.
In addition to Wall and Beal, Otto Porter Jr. added 20 points and 11 rebounds, as the Wizards' starting lineup did most of the damage on Thursday night. Starting forward Markieff Morris completed the double-digit scoring log for the Wizards with 16 points. In all, the Wizards' starters accounted for 89 of the 111 points.
The Lakers, on the other hand, finished with seven players scoring in double figures, including all five starters. Usual suspects Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson reached the double-figure mark off the bench, with Clarkson sharing team-high honors with Brook Lopez. Both players scored 15 points, though neither player featured for more than 22 minutes in the game.
With the defeat, the Lakers dropped to 5-7 on the season, while the Wizards improved to 6-5 on the year. Next, the Lakers play in Milwaukee on Saturday, while the Wizards are due to host the Atlanta Hawks on that same evening.
