After slow start, Wizards rally past Lakers

[January 28, 2015]  LOS ANGELES -- A second-half turnaround and the solid play of point guard John Wall allowed the Washington Wizards to run past the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night.

Wall had 21 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds, leading the Wizards to a 98-92 victory at Staples Center.

Wall, whose status was uncertain until game time due to a migraine and sore ankles, helped the Wizards rally after they trailed by as many 19 points in the first half.

"We didn't come out with a sense of urgency and compete right away," said Wall, who hit eight of 12 shots from the floor. He also had three steals. "I've been on teams like that when we've played a good team and we come out aggressive and we feel like we have a chance to win. We gave them life. Luckily, we had opportunities to start competing to close out the second quarter and get it to a decent amount. But the first half, they were basically doing what they wanted."

Guard Bradley Beal scored 19 points for the Wizards, who won their second straight. Washington (31-15) prevailed without starting forward Paul Pierce, who missed the game due to a sore right big toe.

"We made it way too close," Beal said.

After a strong first half, the Lakers' offense sagged in the second half. Los Angeles managed just 33.3 percent shooting after intermission compared to 47.6 percent for the Wizards. Overall, Washington shot 48.7 percent from the floor compared to 42.5 percent for the Lakers.

"We got into a stretch where we just couldn't make shots," Lakers coach Byron Scott said. "That was basically the game."

Guard Wayne Ellington scored a career-high 28 points for the Lakers, who dropped their ninth consecutive contest. Point guard Jordan Clarkson also achieved a career best in scoring, finishing with 18 points. Reserve forward Ed Davis had 14 points for Los Angeles (12-34).

Ellington and Clarkson outplayed counterparts Wall and Beal in the first half as Los Angeles took a 57-46 lead at the break. That changed, though, in the second half.

"I made up my mind, I'm going to come out aggressive," Ellington said. "We are a team that needs to be hungry."

The Lakers played without guard Nick Young, who sprained his right ankle in practice Monday. They already lost guard Kobe Bryant, who will miss the rest of the season with a torn right rotator cuff.

"The biggest thing was that we were surprised by how confident they were coming in," Beal said. "That's what we really underestimated. We thought, given their record, given the guys who weren't playing tonight, we just thought it was going to be an easy game, and we can't approach it that way if we want to be the team we want to be."

Los Angeles pulled within 90-88 after a free throw by forward Wesley Johnson with 3:30 remaining, but the Lakers managed little else when it mattered most. A three-point play by forward Nene, a bucket by forward Otto Porter and a jumper by Beal pushed Washington's lead to 97-90 with 43.4 seconds left.

Los Angeles got off to a fast start. The Lakers took advantage of 10 Wizards turnovers, while committing five, en route to their 11-point advantage at the half.

However, the Wizards rallied in the third quarter, outscoring the Lakers 29-19. A three-point play by Clarkson with 7:28 remaining in the period gave the Lakers a 68-54 advantage, but Washington went on a 14-0 run to tie the score on a three-point play by Porter five minutes later. Los Angeles ended the quarter clinging to a 76-75 lead.

A layup by backup point guard Andre Miller gave the Wizards an 82-80 lead with 8:59 remaining, and Washington never trailed again.

NOTES: The slew of injuries for Los Angeles and sometimes poor play of PG Jeremy Lin are allowing coach Byron Scott to speed up the development of rookie Jordan Clarkson, who started his third game in a row. "Like I told him, he has to be patient, slow down and let the game kind of come to him," Scott said. "The game is still probably going 100 miles per hour for him, so the more he gets experience for doing this, the more the game will slow down." ... The Lakers honored the late Jerry Buss, who would have been 81 on Tuesday, with a video tribute and gave fans commemorative rings with the late owner's image on them. ... The Wizards cap their four-game road trip Wednesday in Phoenix against the Suns. ... The Lakers host the Chicago Bulls on Thursday.

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