Even though the Los Angeles Lakers were playing the Washington Wizards who have the worst record in the NBA, there was still a bit of concern as JJ Redick’s squad would be without All-Star big man Anthony Davis, not to mention a couple of other important role players in Dorian Finney-Smith and Gabe Vincent.
Thankfully, however, the Lakers took care of business with a dominant 38-point victory in Washington for their seventh win in the last nine games. With LeBron James leading the way, the Lakers took control from the beginning and never let up throughout the contest.
There also seemed to be a bit more fire than usual with the Lakers. Austin Reaves picked up a technical foul in the first half while Dalton Knecht was actually ejected late in fourth quarter. Even though things went a bit over the edge, Redick was still happy with his team playing angry, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“I asked the guys to play with an edge. I thought they did that. We were the instigators. Did not intend for some of that edge to be taken out on the officials by a couple of our guys. But I liked that we were angry tonight. We played angry. Overall, execution was great. It’s a big deal when three of your top seven guys are out of the lineup and you can bring guys in that haven’t necessarily been in the rotation and they make a big impact. I thought Shake (Milton), in particular, led that. Just a great spirit and energy, got us organized, obviously scored the basketball as well. Trey (Jemison) was awesome. And that group to finish the last 10 minutes of the fourth, they just played the right way. That was indicative of how we played the entire night. We played the right way on both ends. Guys should be proud of their effort and execution tonight.”
As Redick noted, it was a full team effort as seven players, including all five starters, scored in double-figures. Of course LeBron set the tone, but the entire team played together and for each other with Shake Milton providing a major boost off the bench with 21 points.
It is this level of effort and execution that the Lakers need in order to be successful, especially with Davis out of the lineup. Now it will be important for the Lakers to maintain this edge and fire moving forward against teams that aren’t the Wizards.
Lakers coach JJ Redick hopeful Anthony Davis will return next week
It was great for the Lakers to pick up a win without Anthony Davis, who has been the team’s best player this season. But JJ Redick surely hopes they won’t have to be without him for too long.
Davis suffered an abdominal muscle strain and Redick is hopeful the big man will be back on the court for the Lakers next week. The coach noted that the injury isn’t expected to keep Davis out for too long and the Lakers undoubtedly need him back sooner rather than later.
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