– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
Follow @Koiki_Sport Follow @ALOST_Official
WASHINGTON — The crowd in the nation’s capital got what they wanted when it showed up to see the Los Angeles Lakers come into town, a healthy and motivated LeBron James. In turn, LeBron, and even the crowd) also got what he might have wanted out of this game: an extended period of time sitting and watching his son attempt to shine on the court.
James scored 24 points and dished out 11 assists in his three quarters of action as the Lakers cruised to a 134-94 drubbing of the Washington Wizards inside Capital One Arena on Thursday evening. Even without Anthony Davis, out with an abdominal injury, Los Angeles made quick work of Washington, who has now a franchise-tying 16 games in succession.
Seven players scored in double figures for Los Angeles, including former Wizard Rui Hachimura, who had 22 points. Shake Milton poured in 21 points, on 7-of-8 shooting, off the bench as ever Laker who played in the game registered a point and made at least one field goal.
That included Bronny James, who played the entire fourth quarter after the Lakers had built a 105-70 lead after three. He shot only 1-of-6 from the field, but that basket that came on a driving layup as he was fouled by Tristan Vukcevic with 2:48 play, which elicited a rousing ovation from the crowd and a fist pump from his father standing on the sideline. Bronny converted the free throw to complete the three-point play.
Jordan Poole led all Wizards scorers with 19 points, but like the rest of the team, he was inefficient from the field (5-for-15) as Washington shot just 29-for-91 in the game. The Wizards become the fifth team in NBA history to have multiple losing streaks of at least 16 games in the same season.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Thursday evening’s game, with photos taken by DC-area photographer Terry Mayo Jr. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page, Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 22 pictures in total.
Follow @Koiki_Sport Follow @ALOST_Official
