Lakers vs Wizards, Live Stream FREE!!! Watch NBA Online @ 7 PM ET
The Los Angeles Lakers (9-14) will look to snap a four-game losing streak when they take on the Washington Wizards (3-16) on Friday night. The club has continued to struggle mercifully on defense.
On Thursday, the Lakers were defeated by the New York Knicks by a score of 117-107 at Madison Square Garden. Los Angeles allowed the Knicks to shoot 53.2 percent against them in the matchup in which it gave up 68 first-half points. The team has surrendered an average of 62.3 during their current slide.
"We are having a re-occurring theme that the first quarter is just not good, and then the first half is not great and in the second half we seem to turn it on, and we need to solve that problem real quick," coach Mike D' Antoni told ESPN.
Kobe Bryant, who has continued to perform well despite the Lakers' woes, racked up 31 points against New York and leads the NBA with 29.3 points per game. Astonishingly, Los Angeles faltered to a dismal 1-11 in games when Kobe puts up over 30 points.
"At this point I wish we had the Washington Generals on our schedule," Bryant said.
If the Lakers are looking to bolster their defense, they'll have a golden opportunity against the lowly Wizards, who are only averaging 90.4 points, which ranks last in the NBA. To top it off, Washington's field goal percentage is a mere 40.7.
In the series, the Lakers previously won nine consecutive games before being beaten by Washington via 106-101 margin on March 7 of last season.
Los Angeles has a 2-8 mark on the road this season while the Wizards sport the NBA's worst home record at 2-7.
CLICK HERE to watch the Los Angeles Lakers face off against the Washington Wizards via free live stream. Coverage of the game is set to begin at 7 p.m. EST on Friday, Dec. 14.
