WASHINGTON (AP)—The same arena that rocked to “M-V-P!” for Kobe Bryant
in the first half was bellowing “Beat L.A.!” in the final minute.

It’s amazing the fans weren’t speechless over what they were witnessing. It
wasn’t merely that the Los Angeles Lakers had blown a 21-point, second-half lead
to the lowly Washington Wizards—it was the fact that the Lakers had
essentially lost the game to a bunch of Wizards second-stringers.

It truly is almost surreal what happened in the fourth quarter of the
Wizards’ 106-101 victory Wednesday. Kevin Seraphin scored 10 of his career-high
14 points. Roger Mason hit three huge 3-pointers. Nick Young, who usually passes
the ball only with great reluctance, had four of his career-high six assists.
Trevor Booker, the only starter to see significant minutes, grabbed eight of his
career-high 17 rebounds.

Also, Bryant, who seemingly could do whatever he wanted in the first half,
went 1 for 10 in the final period to finish with an unfulfilling 30 points.

Conclusion: It’s safe to say that the Lakers thought they had it won when
they were leading 76-55 in the third quarter.

“I was out there kind of loafing around and having a good time,” said
Andrew Bynum, who scored 19 points but committed seven turnovers. “They played
up, got the home crowd into it, and they were able to hit shots.”

The Wizards will take it. They hadn’t beaten the Lakers since 2006, a streak
of nine straight losses. The same team that was called “unprofessional” by
coach Randy Wittman after a 20-point loss to Golden State on Monday somehow
pulled off a minor miracle.

“When our backs are against the wall,” Young said, “you can’t do nothing
but go up.”

Young finished with 19 points, and those half-dozen assists were indeed out
of the norm for someone with only 38 in his first 36 games, causing him to joke
that he had become “a complete player.” Booker scored 18 points, and Seraphin
shot 7 for 8 and tied his career high with nine rebounds. Mason finished with 14
points, and John Wall had nine assists to help make up for four points on
1-for-8 shooting. The bench tallied 55 points.

“A lot of us,” Mason said, “are hungry to play.”

Pau Gasol added 19 points and 15 rebounds for the Lakers, who dropped both
ends of a road back-to-back. Bryant said the team “played a little tired”
after an overtime loss at Detroit the night before, and on Wednesday he wasn’t
saying much of anything.

How surprised were you that you were up 21 and you lost? “Shocked.”

How disappointed? “Very.”

“I’ll keep it to one word,” Bryant then said.

The Wizards were their usual disjointed selves well into the third quarter,
mixing dunks with misfired alley-oops and other failed attempts at flash. Jordan
Crawford and Young were both 0 for 4 from 3-point range in the first half, and
Wall didn’t have a point until his dunk with 3:19 remaining in the third.

Young had a classic Wizards blooper in the second quarter, going up for an
uncontested dunk only to have the ball slip out of his hands and fly over the
backboard and into the rows of fans seated behind the basket.

The deficit was 21 when the Wizards started on a 26-7 run that pulled them
within two at the end of the third quarter. Mason started the fourth by hitting
a pair of 3s, and Seraphin twice gave Washington back the lead after the Lakers
had rallied.

Seraphin’s dunk—Washington’s 10th of the game—and Young’s jumper put the
underdogs ahead 104-99 with 43 seconds left. After a dunk by Gasol, Booker
grabbed an offensive rebound on Wall’s missed jumper to keep the Lakers at bay.
The Wizards made two free throws in the final 15 seconds to help seal the
improbable win.

“Our mindset right now to play on the road,” Lakers coach Mike Brown said,
“is not what it should be.”

Notes: Bryant wore a clear mask to protect his broken nose. He had switched
from a black one midgame the night before because it wasn’t comfortable. …
Bryant is 12 points shy of 29,000 for his career. … The Lakers wrap up their
three-game road trip at Minnesota on Friday. … Wizards F Rashard Lewis missed
his fifth straight game with a sore left knee.

———

Joseph White can be reached at http://twitter.com/JGWhiteAP

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The Los Angeles Lakers played a tough game against the Detroit Pistons on March 6 and now will have to face the Washington Wizards on March 7 – on the back-end of a back-to-back. Kobe Bryant and the Lakers fell just short in Detroit, losing to the Pistons in overtime 88-85. Bryant came out wearing a new black mask and shot 2-for-10 in the first half – he switched back to the clear mask at halftime and likely won’t wear the black mask against the Wizards. He complained it was slipping all over the place and looked to be more rigid and uncomfortable than the clear one he had been wearing.

Regardless, the Lakers have to put their loss to the Pistons behind them and get back to playing their brand of basketball. Let’s look at what the Lakers will need to do to earn their 10th straight win over the Wizards:

Bench Scoring

The Lakers bench scored a whopping total of seven points against the Pistons. In fact, anyone not named Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, or Andrew Bynum combined for just 13 points in the contest. That is not going to win any team basketball games, especially when they already struggle on the road. The Lakers’ bench and supporting cast are going to have to step up in this game against the Wizards.

Kobe Bryant

Bryant will always be the offensive leader of this team, but this isn’t 2006 anymore. He has two very talented seven-footers in Gasol and Bynum to get the ball to when he isn’t shooting the ball well. 8-of-26 shooting isn’t exactly what I would call a good shooting performance by any stretch. The Lakers didn’t lose that game because of Bryant’s shooting performance, but they didn’t win either. He did, however, score the game-tying basket to send the game to overtime.

Road Play

The Lakers need to do something about their play on the road. While they are currently in fourth place in the Western Conference, their road record is 6-13. Imagine if the Lakers’ road record was 13-6, they would be tied with the Oklahoma City Thunder for first place in the Western Conference. If the Lakers want to compete in the NBA Playoffs, they are going to need to start winning on the road.

This will be the game where the Lakers get comfortable and breakout on the road, beating the Wizards for the 10th straight time.

Prediction: Lakers 110 – Wizards 90

David is co-founder of wrapupp sports blog where fresh content is posted daily and present sports blogs and sports opinions – all with a West Coast bias. Growing up in the Bay Area, David is a huge supporter of all the local sports teams; the Giants, Athletics, Warriors, Sharks, 49ers, and Raiders. His one fault, admittedly, as many of his friends and family would say, is his love for the Los Angeles Lakers. Growing up, Magic Johnson was his favorite basketball player and he fell in love with the team. He chalks it up to, “Not knowing any better”. Now his love for sports has turned just as academic as it is intuitive and he follows most all sports all over the nation.

You can follow David on Twitter: @officialwrapupp

Sources:

NBA.com. Lakers vs. Wizards Preview. NBA 2012.

More from David Mehrwein and the Yahoo! Contributor Network:

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Jerry Rice Regarding Peyton Manning and the 49ers: Fan Reaction

49ers Sign C.J. Spillman to Three-Year Extension: Fan Reaction

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Warriors 120, Wizards 100

WASHINGTON — The Golden State Warriors found the perfect remedy for a team struggling through a long road trip: the Washington Wizards.

The Wizards, on the other hand, seem to have no answers after a performance their coach termed “unprofessional.”

Golden State found the 3-point shooting touch that had been missing for the previous five games of the road swing and routed the Wizards from the opening quarter in a 120-100 win Monday night.

The Warriors were 15 for 23 on 3-pointers, a season-best 65.2 percent.

“It was like the basket was big for everybody. Everybody was making shots,” Monta Ellis said.

Ellis led the Warriors with 25 points and was 10 for 16 from the floor, including 2 for 4 on 3-pointers. He didn’t play at all in the fourth quarter as both teams emptied their benches.

The Warriors host the Grizzlies on Wednesday night.

The long-range barrage was a sharp turnaround from the previous five games, when the Warriors shot 24.2 percent from 3-point range.

“I wish they would have came a little bit earlier, but we’re going to take this one, go home and see what happens,” Ellis said.

Klay Thompson scored 18, and David Lee had 13 points and 10 rebounds for Golden State, which had six players in double figures. It was Golden State’s highest-scoring game since beating Toronto 138-100 on March 25, 2011.

Nick Young scored 25 points, 15 in the fourth quarter, and John Wall had 20 points and 14 assists for Washington, which lost for the seventh time in eight games.

“We get one win and come into a situation where we have a team at the end of a road trip, in a back-to-back and we come in with that effort to start the game,” Washington coach Randy Wittman said. “Inexcusable, and that’s on me. … That is unprofessional. I apologize to everybody that had to watch it and had to come here tonight.”

Thunder 95, Mavericks 91

OKLAHOMA CITY — Russell Westbrook scored 24 points, Kevin Durant had 22 and Oklahoma City scored the final eight points to beat Dallas and run its home winning streak to 13 games. Westbrook answered Dirk Nowitzki’s fourth 3-pointer of the final period by hitting one of his own from the right wing to get Oklahoma City within 91-90 with 2:25 remaining, and Dallas didn’t score again. Serge Ibaka hit two free throws with 46 seconds left to give Oklahoma City the lead, and Jason Terry missed two shots down the stretch for the Mavericks. Nowitzki finished with 27 points but didn’t touch the ball on a key possession when Dallas was down by two with 13 seconds left.

Bulls 92, Pacers 72

CHICAGO — Luol Deng scored 20 points, teaming with Derrick Rose in a decisive third-quarter rally against Indiana that sent Chicago to its seventh straight victory. Rose had 13 points and nine assists, hitting three 3-pointers while Deng had two in the third as the Bulls blew open a close game. Joakim Noah had 17 rebounds to lead the Bulls to a dominating 60-32 edge on the boards. Chicago outscored the Pacers 20-4 on second-chance points. Paul George scored 21 points for Indiana, which had a six-game winning streak snapped.

Timberwolves 95, Clippers 94

MINNEAPOLIS — Kevin Love had 39 points and 17 rebounds to carry Minnesota past Los Angeles. Darko Milicic had 13 points in a spot start for the injured Nikola Pekovic and Michael Beasley scored all nine of his points in the fourth quarter for the Wolves. Blake Griffin had 26 points and 12 rebounds, but scored just four in the final period for the Clippers.

Magic 92, Raptors 88

TORONTO — Dwight Howard had 36 points and 13 rebounds, Ryan Anderson added 19 points and 13 boards, and Orlando beat Toronto. DeMar DeRozan scored 23 for the Raptors, who have not won back-to-back games since road wins over Phoenix and Utah on Jan. 24 and 25. Toronto has gone 6-13 since.

Bucks 97, 76ers 93

MILWAUKEE — Beno Udrih hit a go-ahead jumper with just under a minute left, and Milwaukee held off a late Philadelphia comeback. Brandon Jennings had 33 points and Drew Gooden added 25 points and 10 rebounds for the Bucks, who have been stuck in a funk for a little more than a month. Since beating the Miami Heat on Feb. 1, Milwaukee had lost 12 of its last 16 games coming into Monday night’s game. Lou Williams had 26 points for the 76ers, who have lost eight of 10.

Jazz 109, Cavaliers 100

CLEVELAND — Al Jefferson scored 25 points, Gordon Hayward had 23, and Utah handed Cleveland its sixth straight loss. Utah snapped a six-game road losing streak with only its fourth victory away from home in 17 games. Rookie Kyrie Irving led Cleveland with 22 points — 21 in the second half. He scored 13 points in the third quarter.

Nuggets rally for 119-116 OT win over Kings

DENVER (AP) — Arron Afflalo hit three free throws with 0.6 seconds left in regulation, Ty Lawson made a 3-pointer with four seconds remaining in overtime, and the Denver Nuggets rallied for a 119-116 victory over the struggling Sacramento Kings on Monday night.

Afflalo finished with a career-high 32 points for the Nuggets, who improved to 4-0 since the All-Star break.

Lawson came up with the clutch basket for the second straight night, finishing with 16 points and 13 assists.

Marcus Thornton and Tyreke Evans each had 27 points for the Kings, who dropped their fourth straight on the day they announced they had extended the contract of coach Keith Smart through the 2012-13 season.

Thornton also had the foul on Afflalo in the closing seconds that allowed the Nuggets to get the game into overtime and pull out an improbable win.

The Kings trailed by as many as eight points in the fourth quarter, only to storm back and take a 96-93 lead on a 3-pointer by Francisco Garcia with 4:23 remaining.

From there, it was an exchange of 3-pointers between the teams, as Lawson hit one to tie it up, only to have Thornton answer right back. Evans gave the Kings some breathing room with a short jumper, extending the lead to 103-98 with 1:16 remaining.

The cushion didn’t last.

Afflalo hit a 3-pointer with 9.7 seconds remaining to make it a one-point game.

After Isaiah Thomas hit two free throws to extend the lead to 108-105, the Nuggets held the ball for one final shot.

Just before the buzzer sounded, Afflalo launched a deep 3-point attempt, with Thornton grazing his arm. Afflalo drained the first two free throws and then had to patiently wait after the Kings called timeout.

He returned to the line, where he made the final one to tie the score at 108.

Jimmer Fredette’s desperation heave was offline and the game went to overtime.

In overtime, the Kings jumped out to an early lead, but the Nuggets quickly responded.

Lawson hit a 3-pointer from the top of the circle to give the Nuggets the lead. Garcia’s final shot fell short.

Once a banged-up bunch, the Nuggets are steadily returning to health. Leading scorer Danilo Gallinari was back after missing 13 games with a left ankle sprain. So was Brazilian center Nene, who sat out 10 games with a calf strain.

Not surprisingly, Gallinari and Nene both showed some early rust from their long layoffs.

Gallinari didn’t hit his first basket until swishing a 3-pointer with 4:04 remaining in the third quarter. He had just four points on the evening.

Nene finished with six points in just over 15 minutes.

When Gallinari hobbled off the court on Feb. 6, it appeared as if he might be sidelined for quite some time after tests revealed a chip fracture in his left foot. But further examinations later showed the fracture wasn’t caused by his stumble and may have actually occurred before he joined the NBA in 2008.

The versatile Italian forward proved to be a fast healer, returning nearly to the day the team had predicted.

The Nuggets were 6-7 without Gallinari, one of the players they’re counting on to deliver big shots at crunch time.

But with the game on the line the healing Gallinari was on the bench, not the floor.

Even with the return of Gallinari and Nene, the Nuggets are far from full strength. They were missing swingman Rudy Fernandez (back) and center Kosta Koufos (left knee).

However, Timofey Mozgov played Monday despite an ailing left ankle. He had eight early points before appearing to hurt his ankle again. Mozgov didn’t play in the second half.

The Nuggets trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half, only to go on an 8-0 run to close out the half and tie the game at 53.

Notes: Kings F J.J. Hickson missed the three-game road swing with a hip pointer. … The Kings will begin a franchise-record nine-game homestand on Wednesday against New Orleans. … Lawson was named the Western Conference player of the week Monday. … The Nuggets are 13-3 against the Kings at home since 2003-04. .

Batum has 19 in Blazers’ 86-74 win over Hornets

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Nicolas Batum scored 19 points and the Portland Trail Blazers snapped a three-game losing streak with an 86-74 victory over the New Orleans Hornets on Monday night.

LaMarcus Aldridge, who had just two points and three rebounds in the first half, finished with 10 points and 11 boards for Portland, which led by as many as 26 points and got a morale-boosting victory before heading out on a seven-game, 12-night road trip. Aldridge did not play in the fourth quarter.

Marco Belinelli had 18 points for New Orleans, which has lost four of its last five games. At 9-29, the injury-depleted Hornets have the worst record in the Western Conference. Chris Kaman had 10 points and 11 rebounds.