Kyle Kuzma played through a quad contusion suffered earlier in the week, and Julius Randle made his first start of the season, but it was not enough for the Los Angeles Lakers in their third matchup this season with the L.A. Clippers.
A 121-106 loss was the Lakers’ season-high tying fifth in a row and eighth in their past nine games. The Clippers opened the game on a 9-0 run, and held leads of 19-3 and 24-7 in the first quarter.
Their lead at one point ballooned to 18 points, and the Lakers never got any closer than 62-55 in the third quarter. That came on the heels of a 7-0 run out of halftime.
The Lakers made just one of their first 10 shots to start the game but rebounded to shoot 49 percent on the night. Brandon Ingram and Randle got off to particularly cold starts, with the former missing his first seven shots, and the latter his first four.
Randle scored 18 points to go along with seven rebounds in 29 minutes. Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. scored a combined 36 points on 15-for-23 shooting off the bench.
Kyle Kuzma rebounded in some regard from the worst shooting night of his career to score 13 points on 6-for-14 from the field. However, he made just one of seven attempts from behind the 3-point line.
In his return since suffering a left MCL sprain, coincidentally against the Lakers on Nov. 27, Blake Griffin scored a game-high 24 points and grabbed six rebounds. Despite making just four of his 14 attempts, Lou Williams scored 23 points.
Williams did the bulk of his damage from the free throw line, where he shot 13-of-15. He was one of seven Clippers to score in double-figures.
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