LOS ANGELES — Anthony Davis was on the bench again, this time with a foot injury that could keep him out for several weeks. The sight of the Lakers’ All-Star center in street clothes again, however, didn’t deter the Lakers from moving on.
The Lakers avoided any letdown on Sunday night and beat the Washington Wizards in the final seconds, 119-117, at Crypto.com Arena for their third win in four games.
Without Davis, who scored 55 points against the Wizards two weeks ago before injuring his right foot Friday night in a victory over Denver, it was “next man up,” Coach Darvin Ham said. “It sounds cliché, but …”
“And at the end of the day, we still have LeBron and Russ.”
Good thing, too.
As the clock ran down, LeBron James found Thomas Bryant under the basket, who dunked for what proved to be the winning points with 7.1 seconds remaining. James scored 33 points, including a huge dunk of his own with 27.1 seconds left to give the Lakers a 117-115 lead.
Bryant started at center in place of Davis, who was scheduled to meet with doctors later in the evening. Ham said the team would have an update Monday.
“It’s definitely disappointing to have to see him go through this especially after seeing all the work he has put into it,” James said of Davis’ latest injury.
“To have this setback right now, it’s tough on him for sure. I’m just trying to do whatever I can to keep his mind fresh. … We just have to hold down the fort as long as we can until we get our No. 1 guy back.”
Davis watched as the game came down to the final minute.
Austin Reaves, who had turned his ankle earlier in the game, scored on a 9-foot floater that gave the Lakers a 115-111 lead. Wizards’ Daniel Gafford scored on a dunk followed by a short jumper by Bradley Beal to tie the score at 115. Overtime loomed.
But James held the ball near midcourt as the seconds ticked off, briefly lost the ball then got it back before passing it off to Bryant, who finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds to help the Lakers win for the third time in their last four games and hand Washington its 10th straight loss and 13th in 14 games. Former Laker Kyle Kuzma missed a 3-point attempt for Washington with 2.1 seconds left.
Ham praised Bryant’s effort, saying that his tough play and no-quit attitude were great examples of how the Lakers (13-16) need to work together so they won’t lose ground in the standings.
“We all have to grab a part of the rope and pull as hard as we can in the same direction,” Ham said.
Ham added that, “He’s going to use all his will, all his power, all his ability to lay it on the line for us. His spirit is always great and that’s a reason why we all want to see him do well.”
With the score tied at 95 in the fourth quarter, James buried a step-back 3-pointer to put the Lakers ahead 98-95.
He later hit a free throw for a three-point play to put the Lakers ahead 106-102 with 5:09 remaining. The Lakers never trailed again.
The Lakers had watched a 14-point lead disappear in the third quarter as the Wizards picked up the pace. Kristaps Porzingis, Kuzma and Beal, who rejoined the team after missing six games because of hamstring injury, fueled the comeback for the Wizards, who are in the middle of a six-game road trip.
Beal led his team with 29 points on 9-of-17 shooting and tied the score with 23.1 seconds left. Kuzma had 22 points and 16 rebounds. Porzingis added 21 points and 11 rebounds.
Lonnie Walker scored 21 points for the Lakers, while Dennies Schröder and Reaves each added 12. James added nine assists and seven rebounds and shot 13 for 24 from the field. Russell Westbrook had nine points on 4-for-12 shooting to go with nine rebounds and eight assists in 23 minutes.
The bad news regarding Davis – who missed 36 of the Lakers’ 72 regular-season games in the 2020-21 season, then sat out 42 of their 82 games last season – didn’t hamper Ham’s optimism. He said several players, including rookies, will be counted on until Davis and Wenyen Gabriel (left shoulder) return.
“We will be getting Wenyen back here pretty soon, so it’s a soft plan that we can always pivot off of,” Ham said. “We have some guys that we are very, very confident in and will mix and match them and see what happens.”
And that’s what happened.
Ham utilized his bench early, putting rookie guard Max Christie in the lineup in the first quarter. Christie, who had been averaging 11.8 minutes per game, scored eight points in 24 minutes, including crunch time.
Ham said he told Christie to “make some 3s and just be solid. We don’t need any hero ball. Everybody needs to play within themselves.”
Only James gained hero status again.
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