The Washington Wizards are taking on the Los Angeles Clippers. The Washington Wizards are 10-17 as they are on a four-game win streak. The Los Angeles Lakers are 22-8 but have gone 1-3 since losing Anthony Davis against the Nuggets.
The Washington Wizards are finally enjoying some success as they are on a four-game win streak as players outside of Beal and Westbrook have made notable contributions. Rui Hachimura and Davis Bertans have really made progress this recently as they have provided some diversity to Washington's offense instead of it all being Beal. Russell Westbrook is coming off of his best performance this season scoring a 27 point triple-double to guide the Wizards past the Portland Trail Blazers.
The Lakers have struggled without Anthony Davis offensively and defensively. With Anthony Davis out Kyle Kuzma can recapture the magic from his rookie season, but overall he has been playing more consistently lately as he's scored at least 11 points in 8 out the 10 games played this month while averaging 17 points in his last five games. Lebron had a poor shooting night against the Heat going 1-8 from beyond the arc. Despite the poor shooting night from Lebron, he did have the best plus-minus on the team that night. Dennis Schroder will also be a huge loss as he is such a valuable piece that the Lakers can defer to in times like these but he'll be unavailable due to protocol.
The Lakers right now are trying to find a new identity without AD for the time being. The Wizards are finally looking like a competent team as Beal's efforts are no longer going to waste. Without Anthony Davis, the Lakers will be missing a large part of their offense and defense. With AD out of the picture stopping or keeping up with Beal is gonna be far from easy, Lebron will probably be the one picking up the mantle in this one alongside Kuzma. The Wizards wouldn't surprise me if they pulled out a win here since they have started to put the pieces of the puzzle together recently and they'll be facing the Lakers at probably their weakest, Wizards +7.
