LOS ANGELES — Anthony Davis had 40 points and 15 rebounds, LeBron James added 31 points and Los Angeles extended the Washington Wizards’ losing streak to 13 games with a 134-131 victory Thursday night.
James shifted the momentum permanently in the Lakers’ favor early in overtime when the 21-year-old veteran called. his athletic block of Jordan Poole layup attempt scoring a 3-pointer of his own with 3:12 left. James then got his ninth assist on Davis’ dunk on the Lakers’ next possession, giving the Lakers the lead to stay.
James is now nine points away from becoming the first player in NBA history to score 40,000 after this dominating victory for Los Angeles, which was already fatigued after rallying from a 21-point fourth-quarter deficit to stun the Clippers on Wednesday evening.
“We had to make some stops and execute offensively,” James said. “Don’t turn the ball over. It’s a tough championship, and after last night’s win we had to face a young, scrappy team that doesn’t play much, just hard, a lot of speed, a lot of youth, and obviously it took us 53 minutes to finish the job.”
Despite a perpetually wobbly ankle that forced him to miss two games around the All-Star break, James returned to the court against Washington just one night after his 19-point fourth quarter against the Clippers.
James, 39, is almost certain to reach the 40,000-point milestone Saturday on national television against defending champion Denver.
D’Angelo Russell scored 22 points for the Lakers, who were never able to pull away during their ninth victory in 12 games. Los Angeles failed to climb above ninth place in the Western Conference despite an impressive February.
“We’re in a race right now, and we’re continually trying to improve, work on ourselves and be healthy,” Davis said. “And while doing it, stay in the fight, stay in the hunt.”
Poole scored a game-high 34 points and Marvin Bagley III added 23 for the Wizards, who are three losses away from tying the longest skid in franchise history despite this encouraging effort against the Lakers.
Washington missed five straight shots and made two turnovers in overtime, remaining scoreless in the final 3:50.
“I thought it was great,” Wizards coach Brian Keefe said. “We talked about consistently playing closer to 48 minutes of basketball, and I thought our guys played 53 minutes tonight. We played the whole match. … Our guys played hard, played consistently, shared the ball, did the things we asked of them throughout the game. I just didn’t get the victory.
Former Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma scored 20 points, but missed a tying 3-point attempt with eight seconds left in overtime. Corey Kispert also had 20 points for Washington.
The Wizards led for most of the first three quarters and rallied from an eight-point deficit in the fourth. Washington led 126-124 with 43 seconds left after Poole drained his fifth 3-pointer of the night, but Austin Reaves tied it for LA with a fadeaway jumper.
Poole missed a 31-footer at the regulation buzzer.
“I’m proud of our guys, just for the way we at least closed out the game,” Poole said. “We fought. … Good look (to finish regulation). Look, I wanted to. Just a little left. I’d shoot it again.
D’Angelo Russell scored 22 points for the Lakers.
Wizards rookie Bilal Coulibaly missed his second straight game with a right pelvis bruise, but Deni Avdija returned from a three-game absence with a left heel bruise.
Cam Reddish missed the second half for the Lakers after playing four minutes in the first half. He only returned Wednesday from a five-week absence with an ankle injury, and coach Darvin Ham said he was dealing with ankle soreness.
FOLLOWING
Wizards: At the Clippers Friday night.
Lakers: Host Denver on Saturday night.
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