Wall’s 23, Beal’s 22 help Wiz beat Ball, Lakers
WASHINGTON » Los Angeles Lakers point guard Lonzo Ball’s cold-shooting start to his NBA career just keeps getting worse. For a change, the Washington Wizards managed to play the sort of defense that contributes to limiting an opponent’s scoring.
John Wall and the Wizards managed to make a doubledigit edge hold up against the Lakers this time, with the All-Star point guard scoring 23 points and Bradley Beal adding 22 while Washington held Ball to 3 for 12 on fieldgoal tries in a 111-95 victory over L.A. on Thursday night.
“They had an off-shooting night,” Wizards coach Scott Brooks said, “but we participated in that.”
Ball, who had 10 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, finished the night shooting 29.2 percent so far in the pros. That’s the second-worst through a player’s first 12 games in the shotclock era, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Asked about people constantly analyzing his unusual shooting motion — it looks something like a righthanded shot put released from the left side of his head — the No. 2 overall draft pick said: “I really don’t even care, to be honest. I know I’ve got to just keep shooting and just improve it every game.” ROCKETS 117, CAVS 113» James Harden had a triple-double of 35 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists to help Houston beat Cleveland.
Harden also had five steals and a block as Houston extended its winning streak to four games.
LeBron James had 33 points for the Cavaliers, and Jeff Green added 27. RAPTORS 122, PELICANS 118 » DeMar DeRozan scored 33 points, Serge Ibaka had 19 and Toronto beat New Orleans or its fifth straight win over the Pelicans.
Kyle Lowry scored six of his 18 points in the fourth quarter, and Jonas Valanciunas had 13 rebounds to help the Raptors win for the 13th time in 16 meetings with New Orleans.