Five takeaways from the Lakers’ loss to Washington

Wow. Things escalated quickly. The Lakers were down four points with two minutes left and then lost by a lot more than four.

Here are five takeaways from their 111-95 loss Wednesday at Washington.

1. Kobe Bryant was definitely NOT in facilitator mode. Not even close. He was hot early, found his way to 20 points by halftime, but went cold from there. And he had no assists until the midpoint of the third quarter. Final stats: 29 points, eight-for-22 shooting, three assists, four turnovers.

2. Jeremy Lin took 10 shots. He missed 10 shots. He found himself on the bench for the fourth quarter. Makes sense.

3. What to do with Wesley Johnson? He had averaged 15 points over three games but then turned from Wild Wes into Willowy Wes, scoring six points in 28 minutes Wednesday.

4. There was plenty of cheering whenever John Wall scored for the Wizards. There might have been more cheering when Nick Young scored, which he did quite well (19 points). Lakers fans can’t get enough of him, and there were lots of them at Verizon Center.

5. Remember Jordan Clarkson? Drafted in the second round by the Lakers? They were high on him after summer league? He has earned a dreaded DNP-CD in six consecutive games. Poor guy.