Lakers player grades: No Luka, no problem versus Wizards

On Monday, the Los Angeles Lakers were without the services of Luka Doncic, who picked up his 16th technical foul during Friday's win over the Brooklyn Nets and was thus subject to an automatic one-game suspension per NBA rules. It wasn't exactly a problem for them, despite how monstrous Doncic's production has been lately. They faced the Washington Wizards , a team that has allegedly been tanking and came into Monday's game with a 17-57 record, which was the second-worst mark in the NBA.

Thanks to a collective effort by the team as a whole, it didn't miss the Slovenian superstar, at least for one evening. The Lakers took control of this game in the second quarter with a 31-8 run that allowed them to take a 65-44 lead at halftime. During that quarter, they held Washington to just 18 points, and things were never competitive after that point.

The Wizards got to within 81-71 late in the third quarter, but that was as close as they would get. Los Angeles cruised to a 120-101 victory, giving them 15 wins in their last 17 games. L.

A. shot 55. 7% from the field, shot 32 free throws compared to 16 for Washington, grabbed 15 more rebounds than Washington did and had a 21-6 edge in fast-break points.