The Sports Xchange
Oct 26, 2017
LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Lakers are beginning to get a feel for each other, and Wednesday night they rallied from 10 points down in the fourth quarter and beat the Washington Wizards 102-99 in overtime at Staples Center.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope sank a 3-pointer with 58 seconds left in overtime to give the Lakers a 100-99 lead. Julius Randle finished off a two-on-one break with a dunk with 4.5 seconds remaining for the final margin.
Brandon Ingram had 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Lakers (2-2). Larry Nance Jr. matched his career high with 18 points and also pulled down 10 rebounds, and Kyle Kuzma scored 15 off the bench.
Los Angeles rookie Lonzo Ball recorded six points, 10 assists and eight rebounds while shooting 2-for-11 from the floor, 0-for-5 from 3-point range.
Bradley Beal scored 28 points, John Wall had 18 points and nine assists, and Marcin Gortat contributed 11 points and 14 rebounds for the Wizards (3-1). Washington was trying to start 4-0 for the first time since 1978.
The Wizards led by 10 points with 7:08 left in the fourth quarter, but the Lakers responded with a 10-0 run and tied the score at 85 on Ingram's pull-up jumper in transition with 3:26 left.
Washington came back with six unanswered points before Randle's 3-pointer with 20 seconds left pulled the Lakers within 91-90. Beal then went to the free throw line with 12.8 seconds to go and made 1 of 2.
After a Los Angeles timeout, Ingram tipped in his own miss with 0.7 seconds on the clock to tie the score, and Wall missed a baseline 3-point attempt at the buzzer to send the game to overtime.
Washington did not have any fastbreak points in the first quarter but scored 14 in the first six minutes of the second to surge ahead 38-31. The Lakers retook the lead 42-41 when Nance scored off a long pass by Ball, but the Wizards took the lead right back and went into the locker room leading 49-45 after Wall hit a jumper at the buzzer.
The Lakers managed to tie the score at 51 early in the third quarter but couldn't regain the lead until overtime.
NOTES: Wizards F Otto Porter Jr. was trying to become the first Washington player to have three straight games of at least 15 points and four steals since Larry Hughes in 1983. Porter had 12 points and two steals before fouling out with 1:45 left in overtime. ... Washington C Ian Mahinmi sustained a sprained left ankle late in the first half and did not return. ... The Lakers wore their Minneapolis Lakers throwback jerseys at home for the first time in 15 years. ... Lakers F Julius Randle, who averaged 28.8 minutes last season and 28.2 in 2015-16, played six minutes before staying on the court the final eight minutes of regulation and all five of overtime. He wound up with 11 points and nine rebounds.