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Wizards beat Lakers to snap six-game losing streak

LeBron James becomes second-leading scorer of all-time

Los Angeles Lakers v Washington Wizards
Wizards forward Deni Avdija defends Lakers LeBron James.
Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images

If you’re rooting for Wizards wins, last night’s game was a good one. Russell Westbrook and LeBron James played well for the Lakers, and Washington won anyway because Tomas Satoransky went cautiously berserk , and the team’s bench was productive.

James passed Karl Malone for second all-time in regular season points with 38 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists. Westbrook chipped in with 22-10-8. The outstanding performances from each wasn’t enough, however, as the Wizards overcame a 16-point deficit to win.

For Washington, the story of the game was Satoransky, who scored 16 points on 6-6 shooting from the floor, 2-2 from three-point range, and 2-2 from the free throw line. He added 3 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals in 27 minutes.

For the Lakers, James posted 38 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists. Westbrook added 22-10-8.

With the victory, the Wizards snapped a six-game losings streak and made things interesting in the West, where the Lakers cling to a slender lead on the New Orleans Pelicans and San Antonio Spurs for a spot in the play-in games.

Even after the win, Washington remains five games behind the Atlanta Hawks for 10th place in the East.

Four Factors

Below are the four factors that decide who wins and loses in basketball — shooting (efg), rebounding (offensive rebounds), ball handling (turnovers), fouling (free throws made).

I’ve simplified them a bit. While the factors are usually presented as percentages, that’s more useful over a full season. In a single game, the raw numbers in each category are easier to understand.

Four Factors: Lakers 119 at Wizards 127

FOUR FACTORS LAKERS WIZARDS
FOUR FACTORS LAKERS WIZARDS
EFG 0.599 0.594
OREB 9 7
TOV 12 7
FTM 10 26
PACE 97
ORTG 122 131

Key Stats

Below are a few performance metrics, including the Player Production Average (PPA) Game Score (very similar to the one I used to call Scoreboard Impact Rating). PPA is my overall production metric, which credits players for things they do that help a team win (scoring, rebounding, playmaking, defending) and dings them for things that hurt (missed shots, turnovers, bad defense, fouls).

Game Score (GmSC) converts individual production into points on the scoreboard in this game. The scale is the same as points and reflects each player’s total contributions for the game. The lowest possible GmSC is zero.

PPA is a per possession metric designed for larger data sets. In small sample sizes, the numbers can get weird. But some readers prefer it, so I’m including PPA scores as well. Reminder: in PPA, 100 is average, higher is better and replacement level is 45. For a single game, replacement level isn’t much use, and I reiterate the caution about small samples producing weird results.

POSS is the number of possessions each player was on the floor in this game.

PTS = points scored

ORTG = offensive rating, which is points produced per individual possessions x 100. League average last season was 112.3. Points produced is not the same as points scored. It includes the value of assists and offensive rebounds, as well as sharing credit when receiving an assist.

USG = offensive usage rate. Average is 20%.

ORTG and USG are versions of stats created by Wizards assistant coach Dean Oliver and modified slightly by me. ORTG is an efficiency measure that accounts for the value of shooting, offensive rebounds, assists and turnovers. USG includes shooting from the floor and free throw line, offensive rebounds, assists and turnovers.

Key Stats: Wizards

WIZARDS MIN POSS PTS ORTG USG PPA GmSC +/-
WIZARDS MIN POSS PTS ORTG USG PPA GmSC +/-
Tomas Satoransky 27 54 16 229 15.0% 508 42.8 23
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope 33 66 18 122 23.6% 150 15.5 8
Daniel Gafford 22 44 17 143 25.2% 206 14.0 6
Corey Kispert 32 65 13 129 15.7% 138 13.9 -2
Deni Avdija 32 64 17 118 24.7% 123 12.3 10
Kristaps Porzingas 26 52 27 123 43.5% 134 11.0 2
Ish Smith 26 52 4 102 12.2% 91 7.4 14
Rui Hachimura 25 51 10 98 17.2% 84 6.7 -7
Raul Neto 18 37 5 120 11.8% 56 3.3 -14

Key Stats: Lakers

LAKERS MIN POSS PTS ORTG USG PPA GmSC +/-
LAKERS MIN POSS PTS ORTG USG PPA GmSC +/-
LeBron James 36 73 38 131 33.8% 243 34.9 1
Russell Westbrook 37 74 22 126 23.0% 191 27.9 -1
Malik Monk 28 56 17 152 16.8% 178 19.8 16
Stanley Johnson 25 51 12 142 14.8% 128 13.0 -3
Austin Reaves 27 55 9 156 10.1% 100 10.8 7
Carmelo Anthony 23 47 13 140 15.0% 103 9.5 -7
Avery Bradley 18 36 2 126 4.4% 41 3.0 -17
Wenyen Gabriel 12 24 4 107 17.9% -26 0.0 -7
D.J. Augustin 18 36 2 69 5.6% -33 0.0 -17
Talen Horton-Tucker 17 34 0 30 17.5% -165 0.0 -12