Recap: Wizards lose to Lakers, 130-119

Dec 5, 2022 - 1:42 AM

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The Washington Wizards lost to the Los Angeles Lakers at home on Sunday night, 130-119.

Unlike most nights, this game was a packed house (though not quite a sell out), because of who was on the other team of course. LeBron James, Anthony Davis and former Wizards star Russell Westbrook were in the building tonight. Davis was the most dominant force, scoring 55 points and grabbing 17 rebounds.

Washington started off on the wrong foot and were down 68-50 at the half. The Wizards weren’t just shooting much worse than the Lakers. Bradley Beal also suffered an apparent hamstring injury just three minutes into the game. In short, after Beal’s injury, Washington was basically done from that point on. After the game, head coach Wes Unseld, Jr. said that Beal’s injury was likely a hamstring strain.

It is unclear if Beal is missing a significant amount of games due to the hamstring injury. But a couple of other Wizards players like Rui Hachimura and Delon Wright are also missing games due to their own ailments. Coincidentally, Wright also has a hamstring injury.

Kristaps Porzingis and Kyle Kuzma deserve some credit for putting some big numbers in the third and fourth quarters, respectively. Porzingis had 27 points and Kuzma had 26 points. Daniel Gafford was another bright spot tonight, where he scored 19 points on 9-of-10 shooting off the bench in just 20 minutes.

Either way, any Wizards comeback in the second half was too little, too late.

Unfortunately, this game was a #SoWizards home game. Most fans came here to support James, Davis, Westbrook (even though he once played here in Washington) and the Lakers fans here got what they wanted: a much-needed win for their playoff hopes. Unfortunately for Washington, they are now 11-13 and 11th place in the Eastern Conference.

The Wizards’ next game is against the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday. Tip off is at 8 p.m. ET. See you then.