Lakers obliterate Wizards in romping victory

The Lakers got back into the win column by dominating the Washington Wizards on Thursday night.

The Lakers handed the Washington Wizards their 16th loss in a row with a blowout win Thursday night, 134-96.

LeBron James scored 24 points and had 11 assists. Rui Hachimura had 22 points with four rebounds. Jaxson Hayes slipped into the starting five in place of Anthony Davis and ended with 10 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and three blocks.

Austin Reaves had 17 points, six rebounds and five assists. Max Christie had 13 points with four rebounds and three assists.

Shake Milton notched 21 points and grabbed four rebounds, with four assists and two steals in his best showing as a Laker. Jarred Vanderbilt pitched in with four points, seven rebounds, four steals and two assists. Dalton Knecht had 10 points.

A pair of free throws by Jaxson opened things up offensively for the Lakers. Rui had a strong start against his former team, scoring five early points. Former Laker Kyle Kuzma knocked down two 3-pointers.

At the first timeout, LA was only up by one.

LeBron drained a logo 3-pointer to extend Los Angeles’ growing lead. After missing his first attempt from behind the arc, Max scored on his second attempt, forcing a timeout by Washington.

Vando saw some playing time and had an immediate impact. His steal led to a hook shot by Trey Jemison III on the other end. At the end of the first, the Lakers were up by 13.

Rui carried his strong start from the first quarter well into the second, converting on a jump shot and a 3-pointer. LeBron assisted on two dunks, one by Jaxson and one by Rui, which forced a timeout by the Wizards. Los Angeles’ lead balloned to 18.

The Wizards struggled to score, missing a lot of good shots. The energy and pace was in favor of the Lakers, who continued to build on their big lead. Jaxson was a perfect four for four from the field for 10 points.

Jordan Poole scored on an impressive scoop shot from under the arm of Jaxson, which was only his third made shot of the game.

Shake Milton, who has struggled to find playing time, played productive minutes in this half, defending well and scoring nine points. With five minutes left until halftime, the Lakers were up to 61 points.

The entire half belonged to the purple and gold as they led by 33 at halftime.

The second half began with both teams missing their first shot attempts. The Wizards then started scoring with a dunk by Jonas. Kuz was fouled after making a shot, completing the and-1.

Rui’s hot shooting continued with another 3-pointer. A block by Rui led to LeBron getting fouled on a bank shot he made and completed the and-1.

Washington had a stretch where they scored a few points, including a nice dunk by Richaun Holmes, but that didn’t matter because the entire quarter belonged to the Lakers.

LA reached 100 points. Vando’s defensive presence was all over the place again, stealing the ball and passing to Dalton who was fouled and knocked down both free throws.

At the end of the third, Los Angeles was up 35.

Like Tuesday, but with a much different vibe, the fourth quarter happened.

Key Takeaways:

The Washington Wizards are not a good basketball team at all.

The Lakers’ next game will be Saturday against the New York Knicks at 5:30 PM PT.

You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.