Lakers get back on track against woeful Washington

Two days after Lakers said it would hardly ever be easy, hardly ever came to town.

The Washington Wizards, who have won a league-low six times, were the cure for the Lakers, after a loss Sunday to the Clippers exposed a number of their weaknesses. Morale after the game was low, LeBron James and JJ Redick openly discussing how their shift schedule would not be able to organically improve an already narrow margin of error.

But with the season halfway through this Tuesday, the Lakers played the one team in the NBA poorly enough to make anyone — even the Lakers — feel like they’ve got it figured out.

The Lakers did the right things consistently over four quarters and were barely threatened before wins 111-88 in a game they desperately needed before hosting Boston on Thursday night.

“It just starts with a very professional approach from our team,” Redick said. “It was one of our more complete games, no matter what time of the season it was or who the opponent was. Like we just had a really professional approach.”

The Wizards (6-36), in the early stages of a rebuild with eyes on the top of the NBA draft, have not won since Jan. 1. With Kyle Kuzma and Jordan Poole their best offensive options and backup center Jonas Valanciunas and forward Corey Kispert their only other veterans, Washington is fully committed to the future.

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Compared to the Lakers (23-18), whose eyes are on the present, that made Tuesday predictably one-sided — though the Lakers still had to execute.

Anthony Davis had 29 points and 16 rebounds while bullying rookie Alex Sarr. James, fresh off watching his beloved Ohio State win the college football national championship Monday in Atlanta, had his ninth triple-double of the season with 21 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds. Austin Reaves, despite a four-for-15 shooting night, still finished with 16 points and eight assists, and Dorian Finney-Smith had 16 points off the bench in just 22 minutes.

The Lakers did it by attacking the paint and finding the open player, the team scoring on more than a handful of lobs.

“It’s … just being ready to make the passes on time, on target,” James said. “And when we do, we look pretty good.”

The biggest highlight came when Reaves found James for a lob off an offensive rebound where the 40-year-old Lakers star dunked on Valanciunas.

“I got the hype. I screamed so loud I almost passed out,” Davis said. “I mean, it wasn’t one of his best, but I’ve seen better. But it was good.”

The Lakers held Washington to 35.8% shooting from the field and 25.6% from three and limited the Wizards to 11 points in the fourth quarter.

“We went out, we had a game plan, we executed it,” James said. “I thought defensively we were great. We were in tune with what they wanted to do, what they were trying to do. And offensively we shared the ball, limited our turnovers. We were really good.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.