Even though this was dubbed a must-win game by Anthony Davis, the Los Angeles Lakers ultimately lost against a surging Washington Wizards team on Wednesday night due to a lackluster effort on both sides of the ball.
The Lakers took early control of the game but ceded it to the Wizards, who never looked back after taking the lead in the second quarter. Los Angeles made a late-game run to make things interesting, but Washington was able to answer in the final stretch to put the game out of reach for good.
Russell Westbrook was the star of the night as he racked up another triple-double (18 points, 18 rebounds, 14 assists) to go along with two steals. Westbrook has been on another triple-double tear and his performance against the Lakers was nothing short of impressive.
Dennis Schroder could not help but praise his former teammate in his postgame comments and thinks he has a reason for Westbrook’s recent turnaround. “He cut his hair again,” Schroder said.
“He’s the old Russell Westbrook. He’s playing great. I’m happy for him. Tonight, we should’ve won like every game we play. He’s a monster and I’m happy for him. People were doubting him. He’s going to be great like always.”
Schroder spent one year with Westbrook on the Oklahoma City Thunder during the 2018-19 season and should be used to seeing these types of performances up close. Westbrook caught flak earlier during the 2020-21 season for his uneven play, but has really picked it up in recent weeks and has the Wizards jostling for a play-in tournament spot.
The Lakers point guard had a decent night with 13 assists and eight assists, but more importantly did not turn the ball over. Schroder recently credited assistant head coach Jason Kidd for helping with his turnover issues and that should go a long way as the season winds down.
Schroder reflects on loss to Wizards
A loss to Washington stings for Los Angeles as it makes the play-in tournament much more of a possibility. The Lakers have been solid defensively all season long, but Schroder believes that was the cause of their downfall against the Wizards. “I think tonight wasn’t a good defensive game,” Schroder said.
“We didn’t play for 48 minutes, we had some strides. We got stops and were running and created open threes or wide-open layups, but we’ve got to do it for 48 minutes. But we didn’t do that tonight. We just got to look at the film and try to get better at that.”
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