3 Takeaways From Lakers' Sloppy Win Wednesday Over Wizards

Last night, the 44-33 Los Angeles Lakers did win their third straight game, and the fifth of their now-concluded six-game road trip, against the tanking Washington Wizards (15-62). But things got dicey late in the 125-120 victory.

As usual, the Lakers' starters did most of the heavy lifting.

All-Star center Anthony Davis led all scorers with 35 points on 10-of-17 shooting from the floor and a flawless 15-of-15 shooting from the charity stripe. He also had 18 boards and three blocks, feasting on the glass against the Wizards' pipsqueak bigs. LeBron James finished with 25 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the field and 7-of-9 shooting from the foul line, nine assists, seven rebounds and three steals. Ex-Wizard Rui Hachimura had 19 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the floor and seven rebounds, D'Angelo Russell scored 18 points on 7-of-16 shooting, while Austin Reaves notched 16 points on 7-of-15 shooting.

No reserve scored more than five points.

Here are our top three takeaways from what was ultimately a successful bout:

The Lakers had a turnover problem.

LA's sloppy ball control helped the Wizards get back into the game early in the fourth quarter. Washington reduced a 15-point advantage heading into the frame to just a two-point edge thanks to an and-one play by Patrick Baldwin Jr. off a running layup with 8:43 remaining. The play capped a 15-0 Wizards run across a troubling three-minute stretch. In that time, Los Angeles turned over the ball only twice to be fair, but for the night they coughed up the rock 16 times, an alarming tally even if it was surpassed by a (terrible) Wizards team's 18.

The Lakers’ vulnerability against the Wizards’ zone defense killed them without AD in the fourth.

Interim Washington head coach Brian Keefe implemented a zone scheme to contain the team's five-man rotation at the top of the final frame. Starters D'Angelo Russell and LeBron James were surrounded by reserves Taurean Prince, Gabe Vincent (playing in just his second game since December 20th), Jaxson Hayes (in for Anthony Davis). Austin Reaves later came in for Vincent. Hayes isn't nearly the scoring threat Davis is in the paint for LA, and Vincent has been a miserable scorer across the seven games he's been available to play all year, so the zone defense effectively managed to neutralize a lot of what the team was trying to do. When Davis returned following a 12-0 Wizards tear (they would go on to score one more triple, making it 15 unanswered points, before LA righted the ship), he managed to help dissuade the Wiz from leaning on the zone.

The Lakers' minimal three point shooting weirdly didn't hurt them.

Washington enjoyed a +30 edge in scoring from beyond the arc over LA The Lakers went 8-of-28 overall from deep, while the Wizards connected on 18-of-42 shooting from three point land. Los Angeles essentially made up for the disparity with total paint dominance. The Lakers outscored the Wiz 60-50 in the post.