The Los Angeles Lakers (48-26) have back-to-back games coming up at home against the Washington Wizards (17-56) and Cleveland Cavaliers (46-28) to begin the week.
With a pair of wins, LA could be looking at a four-game win streak after this back-to-back.
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On Monday, the Lakers will be coming off a rare two-day rest advantage, which hasn’t happened in quite some time. Given how gassed they looked in the win against the Brooklyn Nets, the two days of rest came at the right time. Hopefully, it prepares the team for this back-to-back on Monday and Tuesday.
While extra rest certainly helps the purple and gold, what won’t is Luka Dončić‘s suspension. The Lakers will be without their best player on Monday against the Wizards, who will only be playing on the second night of a back-to-back. However, this Wizards team has also lost nine out of its last 10 games.
The Wizards — who now employ Anthony Davis in case you have forgotten — are pretty much tanking at this point. Honestly, there’s no point in Washington winning this one unless they want to lessen their chances of securing their top-eight protected pick in this year’s NBA Draft. Right now, they’re sitting in 13th place in the Eastern Conference.
So with all due respect to the Wizards, this is a game that the Lakers can afford not having Dončić’s services. As a result of Luka’s absence, expect more touches for Austin Reaves and even LeBron James with perhaps more ball-handling duties for both and shot opportunities for the role players as well.
The last time the Lakers played the Wizards, they easily dominated them on their home floor. Although Dončić’ was heavily responsible for that, James still put on a show, as did Deandre Ayton and Jaxson Hayes. This is another chance for them to do just that and especially with the Wizards’ lack of frontcourt depth.
Hopefully, this is a game that doesn’t go to the wire like what transpired against the Nets last Friday. The Wizards’ injury report against the Portland Trail Blazers — who they play on Sunday night — has most of their key guys out so there’s really no excuse for the Lakers’ core to play heavy minutes. This is a good test for them on how they approach their opponent and prepare for a tough matchup against the Cavaliers the following day.
That said, let’s see if the Lakers nab their 49th win of the season against the Wizards on Monday.