On to LA. Hollywood, The City of Angels, La-La land. It has many names and many teams. The young rebuilding Wizards (6-35) are in town to face the Lakers (22-18) and the Clippers in games three and four of a 6-game road trip. The Wizards have started the road trip 0-2 after losses in Golden State and Sacramento but there’s nothing like SoCal. Even though the Wizards are heavy underdogs, they have a chance if they revert to culture basketball. When I say culture, I mean the culture of playing hard, playing to win. There are three ways the Wizards can humble the Lakers. Let’s get into it.
Three keys to victory
#1 - Win the paint
The Wizards are a better rebounding team than the Lakers, 18th best that is. If they want to hang with the Lakers, it starts in the paint. While Sarr will have his hands full with AD, the matchup to look at is Jonas Valanciunas vs Jaxson Hayes. I look for JV’s savviness and toughness to shine vs Hayes.
#2 - Defense
Come on now, you already know what I’m going to say, this team’s defense is bad, I mean terrible. You can argue that defense is a frame of mind and the Wizards will have to be a well-balanced yet aggressive defense against the Lakers to have a chance. Getting back in transition and setting up. Making defensive switches and closing out shooters. Overall being aggressive . All should be priorities for the Wizards.
#3 - Outperform their bench unit
The Lakers have a balanced second unit, mixing shooting and defense when you combine Knecht and Finney-Smith. Jonas Valanciunas and Corey Kispert having big games is a must for the Wizards to win.
The tip-off is 10:30, so join me live following the game. See you guys there!
