Bounce-back win

The Lakers rebounded from their stunning loss Tuesday to the Indiana Pacers by beating the Philadelphis 76ers, 114-102, on Wednesday. Now they're off to Washington for a practice Thursday and a game Friday against the Wizards. The main focus will be to improve their defensive play. Coach Phil Jackson is not pleased.

"I think the communication is what we're going to have to work with," he said. "These offenses are geared to handle the type of defense we're running. We're just a little bit late and (giving up) too many layups and too many points in the paint."

The stat of the game was probably the 76ers' 36 points in the paint in the first half. The Lakers pushed the 76ers to the perimeter more often in the second half, giving up only 14 points in the paint. It helped to explain why the Lakers pushed their lead to 19 points.

Here's another interesting stat: the Lakers shot a season-high 58.1 percent.