Anthony Davis leads Lakers past Wizards to cap successful trip
The All-Star big man has 35 points and 18 rebounds, LeBron James scores 25 and the Lakers hold off Washington, 125-120, to finish their trip at 5-1. They have won eight of nine overall.
Lakers star Anthony Davis dunks during the second half of their game against the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night in Washington, D.C. Davis had 35 points, 18 rebounds, three blocked shots and made all 15 of his free throws in a 125-120 win. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Lakers star LeBron James is fouled by Washington Wizards forward Corey Kispert, rear, during the second half on Wednesday night in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Lakers star Anthony Davis shoots over the Washington Wizards’ Tristan Vukcevic during the first half on Wednesday night in Washington. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Lakers star Anthony Davis reacts after scoring during the first half of their game against the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night in Washington. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Lakers forward LeBron James, right, shoots against Washington Wizards forward Deni Avdija during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, April 3, 2024, in Washington. James was called for a flagrant foul. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Washington Wizards guard Jordan Poole scores against Lakers guard Gabe Vincent during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, April 3, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Lakers forward LeBron James, left, maneuvers for a rebound against Washington Wizards forward Tristan Vukcevic during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, April 3, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Lakers forward Rui Hachimura shoots during the first half of their game against the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night in Washington. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Lakers forward LeBron James, left, scores over Washington Wizards forward Deni Avdija and forward Tristan Vukcevic, right, during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, April 3, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Lakers forward LeBron James, left, scores over Washington Wizards forward Deni Avdija, and forward Tristan Vukcevic, second rom right, during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, April 3, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Washington Wizards guard Jordan Poole, right drives against Lakers guard Austin Reaves during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, April 3, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Lakers star LeBron James, left, is guarded by Washington Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma during the first half on Wednesday night in Washington. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Lakers star Anthony Davis loses control of the ball in front of the Washington Wizards’ Corey Kispert during the first half on Wednesday night in Washington. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
The Washington Wizards’ Corey Kispert gestures after making a 3-point shot during the first half of their game against the Lakers on Wednesday night in Washington. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Lakers star LeBron James reacts during the first half of their game against the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night in Washington. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Lakers forward LeBron James, center, grabs a defensive rebound during the first half of the team’s NBA basketball game against the Washington Wizards on Wednesday, April 3, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Lakers star LeBron James, left, and Washington Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma share a laugh during the first half on Wednesday night in Washington. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Lakers forward LeBron James, left, dunks against Washington Wizards forward Tristan Vukcevic during the second half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, April 3, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Lakers forward LeBron James, left, dunks the ball ahead of Washington Wizards forward Tristan Vukcevic during the second half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, April 3, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Lakers forward Anthony Davis, center, scores over Washington Wizards forward Anthony Gill during the second half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, April 3, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Lakers forward LeBron James, left, fist-bumps a young fan during the second half of the team’s NBA basketball game against the Washington Wizards on Wednesday, April 3, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Lakers star LeBron James shoots in front of Anthony Gill (16) of the Washington Wizards during the second half on Wednesday night in Washington. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Lakers forward LeBron James, right, is fouled by Washington Wizards forward Anthony Gill, center, during the second half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, April 3, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Washington Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma reacts during the second half of their game against the Lakers on Wednesday night in Washington. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Lakers forward Anthony Davis, right, turns toward the basket past Washington Wizards guard Jordan Poole during the second half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, April 3, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Lakers head coach Marvin Ham calls a play during the second half of an NBA basketball game against Washington Wizards on Wednesday, April 3, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Lakers star Anthony Davis dunks against the Washington Wizards during the second half on Wednesday night in Washington. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Lakers star Anthony Davis dunks during the second half of their game against the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night in Washington, D.C. Davis had 35 points, 18 rebounds, three blocked shots and made all 15 of his free throws in a 125-120 win. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Lakers star LeBron James considers his options as Washington Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma defends during the second half on Wednesday night in Washington. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Lakers star LeBron James shoots during the second half of their game against the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night in Washington. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Lakers forward Rui Hachimura scores against Washington Wizards forward Anthony Gill, left, and guard Jordan Poole during the second half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, April 3, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Washington Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma, left, converses with Wizards forward Tristan Vukcevic during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Lakers, Wednesday, April 3, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Lakers forward LeBron James clenches his fist after scoring against the Washington Wizards during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, April 3, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
WASHINGTON — The Lakers’ last extended road trip of the season was an unmitigated success.
Anthony Davis scored 19 of his 35 points in the first quarter and grabbed 18 rebounds, helping the Lakers beat the Washington Wizards, 125-120, on Wednesday night to conclude a 5-1 road trip with their eighth victory in nine games overall.
LeBron James had 25 points and nine assists, and Rui Hachimura scored 19 points for the Lakers against his former team. Davis – who averaged 33.6 points and 16.4 rebounds in the five games he played on the trip – shot 10 for 17 from the field and made all 15 of his free throws to go with three blocked shots and two steals.
The Lakers (44-33) remain ninth in the Western Conference standings, meaning they would still have to win twice in the play-in tournament to make the main playoff bracket as the No. 8 seed. But they’re making a push to move up. The Lakers trailed Phoenix and Sacramento by 1½ games entering Wednesday’s schedule. They own a head-to-head tiebreaker against the Suns but not against the Kings.
“We want to continue to play good basketball,” James said. “The postseason’s still kind of a ways away. … Postseason prep, all that other stuff is totally different from the regular season, so wherever we fall is where we fall.”
Jordan Poole led Washington with 29, as the Wizards (15-62) are now one loss shy of matching the franchise single-season record.
Washington was coming off a nice win against Milwaukee on Tuesday night, and the Wizards made their first five 3-point attempts against the Lakers. Washington led 19-8 early on, and the problems mounted for the Lakers when Davis took a stray elbow from Wizards 7-footer Tristan Vukcevic and stayed down on the court for a bit.
But Davis was able to play on, which was bad news for Washington. The Wizards didn’t have the size necessary to deal with him, and Davis dominated the rest of the quarter. By the time it was over, he’d already attempted – and made – 11 free throws, and the Lakers led 39-29.
The Lakers led by seven at halftime, then went on a 9-2 run to start the third quarter to take a 76-62 advantage. D’Angelo Russell scored 18 points and Austin Reaves had 16 for the Lakers, who have five games left in the regular season (the next three at home).
Washington pulled back within two in the fourth and was having significant success with its zone defense before James spun around Jared Butler and dunked to make it 109-105. That started a 12-0 run.
“When we’re scoring at will, teams are going to try to get into a zone and try to slow us down,” Davis said. “We’ve got to be able to get to our zone offense to combat that.”
The Lakers had removed James and Davis, the game seemingly in hand, when the Wizards scored eight straight points to make it 125-120. After a Laker turnover with 17.4 seconds remaining, Coach Darvin Ham put James and Davis back in.
Davis blocked a 3-point attempt by Butler and the Lakers held on.
“I hate the term garbage time,” Ham said. “You’re playing in the NBA. There’s only so many spots, and you get a chance to play, even if it’s the last 50 seconds, go hard. Go hard or you stay home, pretty much.”
James was called for a flagrant foul when he made a spin move while driving to the basket and caught Deni Avdija with an elbow in the second quarter.
UP NEXT
The Lakers host Cleveland on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
"It took a lot of mental toughness to finish this road trip the right way." Anthony Davis (35 pts, 18 reb) on closing out the road trip with a W. pic.twitter.com/OjsboGY2kg
