Nine in a row

The Los Angeles Lakers stretched their winning streak to nine this past Thursday after a 114-110 road victory over the New Orleans Pelicans. The Lake Show moved to 16-2 on the season and have now been solo owners of the best record in the league for over a week.

As expected against the Pels, the Lakers fed the ball early and often to former Pelican Anthony Davis, who relished in the crowd’s loud boos and notched a season-high 41 points. He also made the game-winning steal and game-sealing free throws. LeBron James, meanwhile, was in his usual scoring and facilitating mood and tallied 29 points and 11 assists. The two also got good help off the bench from Kyle Kuzma as he chipped in 16 points and went 4-for-4 from downtown.

As they head back home to meet the Washington Wizards, James (25.8 PPG, 11 APG) and Davis (26.1 PPG, 2.8 BPG) are again expected to do the heavy lifting, collectively on both ends.

The Lakers’ supporting cast has been, in a good way, a wildcard all season long, with Kuzma, Danny Green, Dwight Howard, Rajon Rondo, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Javale McGee, and Avery Bradley (leg), seemingly taking turns in becoming the third key performer.

The mediocre Wizards

Having won three of their last five games, the 6-10 Wizards are on their best stretch of the season, which says a lot about their mediocrity. The good news, however, is that they’re just one game back from the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference standings.

All offense, no defense

The Wizards could be the new poster team for the “all offense, no defense” club. They have surprisingly catapulted into having the most prolific offense in the league (119.4 PPG 1st) but virtually cancel it all out by ranking dead-last in scoring defense (120.8 PPG, 30th).

Six Wizards (Bradley Beal, Thomas Bryant, Davis Bertans, Mo Wagner, Rui Hachimura, and Isaiah Thomas) are currently averaging over 12 PPG, as led by their All-Star guard, Bradley Beal, who’s continuing to grow as a scorer without his co-All-Star backcourt partner, John Wall (achilles).

Beal is currently fourth in the NBA in scoring at 28.9 PPG and 13th in assists at 7.1 APG, making him one one of the most productive playmakers today. His recent trend of putting up 30 or more points in six of his last eight games also indicate that we might see a continuous uptick in his numbers.

PREDICTION:

The Lakers win, 120-113.

The Lakers are the more proven team but given how efficient the Wizards are on scoring, they will have their work cut out for them on defense.