The Los Angeles Lakers managed to advance past the Play-In Tournament as they beat the Minnesota Timberwolves in overtime.
The Lakers fell behind as much as 15 points in the third quarter before rallying in the fourth quarter to take a three-point lead. Although Anthony Davis committed an ill-advised 3-point shooting foul on Mike Conley at the end of regulation, Los Angeles responded in the overtime period to punch the team’s ticket to the 2023 NBA Playoffs.
However, the purple and gold probably could’ve avoided the Play-In altogether had they taken care of business against the L.A. Clippers. The odds were stacked against the Lakers as they were on the second end of a back-to-back while the Clippers had three days of rest. It felt like a scheduled loss for the Lakers, who wound up dropping their 11th consecutive game to the Clippers.
There’s no denying that the Clippers have played the Lakers well in each of their matchups and on his podcast “Podcast P with Paul George”, Paul George explained how his team is able to get the best of them every time they play:
“We got their number right now,” George said. “We just match up well against the Lakers. We got bodies to guard [LeBron], we got playmakers, we got scorers, we got defenders. We can kinda do multiple things to limit and give [LeBron] a tough time. As good as he is, we got bodies over there so we give the Lakers a good run.”
In their most recent game, the Lakers struggled to contain the Clippers, who were without George as he rehabs from a knee injury. Even without George, the Clippers had no issues carving up the Laker defense with their ball movement and outside shooting. The game got out of hand in the fourth quarter, but the Lakers still tried to extract some value out of it by leaving their starters in to build some on-court chemistry.
Unfortunately, the Lakers won’t be able to prove George wrong this year unless the two teams meet in the Western Conference Finals. For now, the purple and gold have to worry about themselves and their upcoming series against the Memphis Grizzlies.
LeBron James breaks down Grizzlies roster ahead of first-round matchup
The Lakers are set to take on the Grizzlies in round 1, a tough matchup considering their talent and depth. However, it sounded like LeBron James had already been preparing for Memphis as he broke down their roster ahead of Game 1 on Sunday.
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