Los Angeles Lakers continue playoff surge behind big night from Anthony Davis and LeBron James
By Matias Grez, CNN
(CNN) — The Los Angeles Lakers continued their late season charge towards the playoffs with a 125-120 away victory against the Washington Wizards behind a huge night from Anthony Davis.
The Lakers big man put up 35 points, 18 rebounds, three blocks and two steals as the Lakers held off a fourth-quarter comeback attempt from the Wizards to pick up a third straight victory.
Since losing back-to-back games against the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors in the middle of March, the Lakers have since won eight of their last nine to vault into playoff contention.
The Lakers went 5-1 over their recent six-game road trip, with LeBron James – who added 25 points, nine assists, seven rebounds and three steals – calling it “a hell of a trip” for the team.
The Lakers still occupy a Play-In Tournament spot in ninth but now sit just a game and a half back from the Phoenix Suns in the sixth and final automatic playoff place.
The team is also a game and a half back from the New Orleans Pelicans in seventh and a game back from the Kings in eighth.
However, James insisted the team still isn’t looking at the standings.
“Our focus is on our next opponent and not what’s going on in the rankings,” he told reporters. “Those will decide at the end of the season where everybody will be at, so our next opponent is Cleveland, but we’re excited to get a day off and just get away from the game, I know I am.
“Offensively, we’ve been very consistent,” James added of the team’s recent success. “Our ball movement, sharing the ball. We’ve still got to crack down on some of the unforced turnovers, but we’ve all been in a good rhythm, playing off one another.
“Defensively, we’ve been good at time, we can be a lot better at times, but when we’ve needed to get stops, we’ve got them. We’ve got it done throughout this whole trip.”
The Lakers were also helped by 19 points from Rui Hachimura, 18 points for D’Angelo Russell and 16 points from Austin Reeves as all five of the team’s starters scored double figures.
Jordan Poole led the way for the Wizards with 29 points, while Kyle Kuzma and Corey Kispert both added 17 points.
The Lakers now begin a three-game home stand against the Cavaliers, the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Warriors, three games that could have huge implications on the final seedings at the end of the regular season.
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