Lakers’ 50th isn’t golden

It took a while, seemingly an eternity in the too-tight Western Conference, but the Lakers finally got to celebrate their 50th.

They teetered and tottered at home against another marginal team, though they recovered this time to beat the Washington Wizards in overtime, 126-120, Sunday night at Staples Center.

The Lakers (50-24) haven’t won 50 games since finishing 56-26 in 2003-04, and it was a questionable proposition whether they would get there Sunday.

But Sasha Vujacic had 20 points, Luke Walton was a spark with a season-high 19 points and a key rebound in the final seconds of overtime, and the Lakers pushed themselves away from a table filled with unpalatable losses over the previous few days (Memphis, Charlotte).

They also managed to move into third place in the West, a game behind New Orleans and San Antonio.

“This was quite a game, actually. It feels like it was really a drawn-out battle,” Coach Phil Jackson said. “But it does get us to that 50-win [mark]. We think that we are going to have to win 57 or something like that if we want to finish at the top of this heap.”

That would mean going 7-1 down the stretch, a discussion for another day, especially since the Lakers had struggled so much against such mediocrity.

But a victory is a victory, even against Washington (34-31), and even if it wasn’t secured until Walton hustled for a rebound of Kobe Bryant’s missed free throw with 13.3 seconds left in overtime. Walton then got the ball to Vujacic, whose two free throws gave the Lakers a 124-120 lead with 10.2 seconds left in overtime.

Bryant had 26 points on seven-for-24 shooting, although he had a season-high 13 assists, a notable stat after Jackson said Bryant’s shoot-first mind-set in Friday’s loss to Memphis “dinted” some of the other Lakers’ efforts in that game.

There was no such critique after Sunday’s game.

“Kobe got everybody involved,” Jackson said.

Bryant established a pass-first mind-set with four assists in the first quarter after totaling only one (and a season-high 53 points) against Memphis.

“Teams are just making a conscious effort to throw the kitchen sink at me, so we have to have that trust where guys knock down shots, and we were able to do that,” Bryant said.

It was a strange game all around.

Leading off with the category of the bizarre: The game marked the first time two teams shot better than 50% from three-point range and under 50% overall since the three-point line was introduced prior to the 1979-80 season. (The stat was contingent upon each team firing off at least 27 three-point attempts, which they did, obligingly, the Lakers making 14 of 27 and the Wizards 17 of 30).

There was also an unexpected outburst from Washington rookie Nick Young, who played at USC and Reseda Cleveland High. Young made three three-pointers in the final 4:14 of regulation and finished with a career-high 27 points.

Former Laker Caron Butler had the biggest play in regulation, leaning into Derek Fisher and drilling an off-balance three-pointer to tie the score at 111-111 with 10.1 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

Fisher had an open look on a three-point attempt from the right corner, but the ball hit the rim and bounced away as time expired.

Young continued to prosper in overtime, making a 14-foot turnaround and two baseline jumpers, although he then threw the ball away on a drive to the basket and missed a 17-foot fadeaway with 19 seconds left and the Wizards down, 121-120.

Bryant was then fouled, made the first free throw and missed the second, but Walton was there for the rebound, crossing in from the other side of the lane to grab it.

The Lakers now get some time to breathe, heal, and whatever else is needed. They won’t practice today and do not play again until Wednesday at home against Portland, which will be without injured All-Star guard Brandon Roy.

And they can enjoy their 50th victory for a bit.

“It was a hump for us to get over in the last several years, and it feels good to get there,” Bryant said.

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