Lakers vs. Washington Wizards Tonight

The Lakers (15-2) will face off against the Washington Wizards (3-13) tonight. Although the Lakers have won the last three games against the Wizards, Lakers coach Phil Jackson has recently been commenting on how well the Wizards have been playing. Tonight the Wizards are without All-Star guard Gilbert Arenas (left knee surgery) and center Brendan Haywood (torn ligament, right wrist) and Washington just replaced coach Eddie Jordan with Ed Tapscott.

The Lakers will need to pay attention to their defense tonight, as they have been experiencing defensive breakdowns recently. Lakers Derek Fisher told the L.A. Times that he and Jordan Farmar must do their part as the first line of defense but shouldn’t be the only ones held accountable: “The great defensive teams are not only the ones that are great on on-ball defense, but it’s really those four guys behind the guy guarding the ball that make the difference. We’re still improving in that area.” Those four Fisher is referring to are Kobe Bryant, Vladimir Radmanovic, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum. Lakers’ coach Phil Jackson says the team’s weakness is “screen-roll” defense, but they may get a break tonight with the Wizard’s point guard out.

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