Lakers slip up to start road trip, fall to Wizards in Washington

After handling Denver, the Lakers started their road trip on the wrong foot.

Outside of the second quarter, the Lakers did manage to hang tight with their opposition.

Unfortunately for them, that second frame doomed them from that point on. They only managed 15 total points while the Wizards dropped 27.

Los Angeles was only trailing by two points after the first quarter, but at the end of the first half trailed by 14.

The team out-scored Washington by six in the second half, but couldn’t complete the comeback.

Before getting into the positive notes, it’s important to note the abominable performance by Timofey Mozgov.

For a center who’s been more of a non-factor than anything else, he failed to score in the starting lineup.

His only contributions were one assist and two blocks.

Jordan Clarkson led the bench and team in scoring with 20 points. As for the starters, D’Angelo Russell and Luol Deng led starters with 17 points apiece.

It was a special night for Tarik Black thought, who crossed double digits with 13 points.

The grim reality continues for the Lakers overall, who have only won five road games this season.

Chances are that the team could begin to tank in order to protect future draft selections.

With the team making the announcement today that Magic Johnson will re-join the team, it’s a bitter contrast to what they were hoping would be a victory.

Small steps for the young core is better than nothing, though.

As Los Angeles continues their road trip, the key players to watch will be D’Angelo Russell and Brandon Ingram.

Russell is returning from nursing an injury, while Ingram needs to grow in his position.

Next: Magic Johnson Re-Joins Lakers

Their next game will be Friday night in Boston against the Celtics.