LeBron James had 24 points and 11 assists to help the visiting Los Angeles Lakers rout the Washington Wizards 134-96 on Thursday.
Bronny James, the 20-year-old son of 40-year-old LeBron, entered the game for Los Angeles to start the fourth quarter and played the entire final 12 minutes. He made 1 of his 6 field goal attempts — a three-point play for the second bucket of his NBA career — and finished with a career-high five points.
Rui Hachimura added 22 points, while Shake Milton chipped in 21 points off the bench as the Lakers won their fifth game in six tries. Austin Reaves had 17 points, Max Christie followed with 13 and Jaxson Hayes paired 10 points with 10 rebounds. Dalton Knecht also scored 10 off the bench.
Washington, which dropped its 16th straight game, was led by Jordan Poole’s 19 points and Kyle Kuzma’s 13. Corey Kispert scored 11 points as the Wizards shot just 31.9 percent from the field.
After trailing 78-45 at halftime, Washington began the third quarter on a 7-0 run, capped with Kuzma’s three-point play at the 9:50 mark. The Lakers answered with a 10-0 spurt that included five straight points from James.
Bub Carrington’s floater and Milton’s free throws stamped the team’s respective third quarter scoring as Los Angeles led 105-70 entering the fourth. Milton scored seven in a row to push the margin to 40 at 115-75 with 8:29 left.
Los Angeles led 42-29 after the first quarter.
Bilal Coulibaly’s pullup jumper trimmed the Lakers’ lead to 18-15 with 6:02 left before Christie and Reaves’ 3-pointers stamped an 11-3 Los Angeles run.
The Lakers’ advantage ballooned to 17 in the second quarter as Hachimura accounted for five points during a 7-0 run that pushed the lead to 49-32.
After Richaun Holmes’ layup and Kuzma’s free throw stopped the bleeding for Washington, back-to-back dunks by Hayes and Hachimura began an 8-0 run that extended the Los Angeles lead to 57-35 with 6:59 left in the second quarter.
Coulibaly’s dunk cut Washington’s deficit to 66-42, but Christie’s triple at the 3:24 mark jumpstarted a 10-0 Lakers run.
