Los Angeles Lakers: 3 Lessons from win against Washington Wizards

LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 29: LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers drives to the basket against Davis Bertans #42 and Ish Smith #14 of the Washington Wizards during the first half at Staples Center on November 29, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 29: LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers drives to the basket against Davis Bertans #42 and Ish Smith #14 of the Washington Wizards during the first half at Staples Center on November 29, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 4
Next
(Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)-LeBron James
(Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)-LeBron James /

Here are three lessons from the win for the Los Angeles Lakers against the Washington Wizards.

The Los Angeles Lakers welcomed the Washington Wizards into the Staples Center to possibly run off some of that Thanksgiving turkey and all of the trimmings on Friday. At the beginning it looked like the Lakers were the team with full stomachs as they gave up the first seven points of the game as the Washington Wizards had a 15-4 lead early. This could have been a game where excuses could have run rampant. Cliche statements like these.

  • The Lakers just had a home letdown after a long grinding road trip. 
  • The game was after Thanksgiving and the team came out flat, so it happens.
  • The Lakers are on a nine-game winning streak and Murphy’s Law had to kick in at some point. No problem. The Lakers will start a new one.

Then the Lakers’ body clocks caught up and they did a magic act. They turned the Washington Wizards into the Washington Generals. The Wizards almost match the Lakers shooting percentage wise coming into the game. Not anymore, that statistic disappeared. The Wizards have the worst defense in the NBA. That fact showed after the Lake Show spotted the Wiz a few points. Then the floodgates open and the Lakers started practicing lobs only to be attempted in practice. LeBron James felt so comfortable that he actually tried a left-handed shot when the Lakers were up 35.

https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1200649466845388800

The Lakers put this game to bed with a 33-8 run to close the first quarter and a 18-0 run in the third quarter. After that the Lakers never looked back and practiced their own version of “Load Management” as Anthony Davis and LeBron James sat down after three quarters up 105-79.

The Lakers won 125-103 where the crowd each got a free City Edition jersey inspired by Shaquille O’Neal (Can’t tell you how jealous the writer is right now! But seriously, the shooting shirts are tight!) and free tacos. This season’s start is growing to historical proportions here. At 17-2, this Lakers team is now tied for the best start in franchise history. Along with a bunch of other accomplishments.

  • They have a season high 10-game winning streak.
  • The Lakers finished 14-1 in November. The most wins in a month since they went 15-1 in March of 2000.
  • It marks the 9th time in franchise history they have won at least 14 games in a month. The other eight instances were spread out in seasons: 1961-62, 1962-63, 1971-72, 1985-86, 1990-91, 1990-2000. 
  • Their best November ever was back in 1971 when the notched a 14-0 in 1971.

All of these teams made the NBA Finals. Looks like the Lake Show Life staff might be writing until June based on what history teaches.

The Lake Show Life constantly tell some of the fan-base to relax on all of the trade talk. The 17 wins to this point MATCHES the Lakers season total of 2015-16. In other words, the Los Angeles Lakers might be pretty good.

Let’s get to Lake Show Life Lessons. Only these lessons teach NBA fans and teams how to do load management the right way.