Davis scores 40 points, including his team’s final basket in overtime, and James scores 31 and hits a key 3-pointer in OT for the Lakers, who survive for their ninth win in 12 games, 134-131.
Even Lakers coach Darvin Ham could acknowledge how Thursday night’s matchup against the Washington Wizards could appear to look.
And maybe his words also served as a cautionary message to his team as to why they couldn’t take their foot off the gas pedal following a thrilling comeback victory and with a matchup against the defending NBA champions waiting for them this weekend.
Sandwiched between their 21-point comeback victory over the Clippers the previous night and the high-profile matchup against the Denver Nuggets on Saturday night, it would’ve been easy for the Lakers to overlook the lowly Wizards, one of the worst teams in the league.
It felt like that was the case for much of their 134-131 overtime win at Crypto.com Arena, their ninth win in the past 12 games and the Wizards’ 13th consecutive loss.
“It’s human nature, right? You got the Clippers [Wednesday] night, then you got Denver Saturday, and so this game would be considered sort of a trap game,” Ham said beforehand. “The way you avoid that is you try to figure out ways to sustain and be consistent at what you’re doing well and constantly look for ways to improve and you make it about yourself.
