Wizard's battle but fall to the Lakers 115-108

John Wall puts up good numbers in his first match-up with Kobe and the Lakers with 22 point 14 assists.

Lakers Coach Phil Jackson talked about the play of Wizards rookie point guard John Wall.


"He's making an imprint," Jackson said before the game. "He's super quick. He's still struggling to find out where he can make a shot from and where he can't."

Phil Jackson's message to the Lakers "They really sucked the joy out of winning that one, didn't they?"

after their 115-108 victory Tuesday night at Staples over a Washington Wizards team lacking generally in hap (six wins in 20 tries), but totally hapless on the road, where they dropped to 0-11 on the season. "We made it tougher," Pau Gasol said. "We made it tougher on ourselves."
 
Tuesday's game was a great example of how fast NBA games can change. The Lakers won the first quarter by 13, tied the second, and were plus-six over halfway through the third, plus four at the 3:27 mark. Over the next three and a half minutes, Washington was 14 points better than L.A. Then in a fourth quarter suddenly more competitive than it needed to be, the Lakers outscored Washington by four. In 207 seconds, the Lakers basically undid over a half-hour's work. Bad execution, particularly in the second unit over the final stretches of the third, opened the door, but things had deteriorated just enough by then. The ball movement leading to 22 assists in the first quarter disappeared.