It was another embarrassing display by the Los Angeles Lakers last night as they were manhandled by the Los Angeles Clippers 123-87. The Lakers scored eight points in the third quarter and are so shorthanded that their “garbage time” lineup consists of several members of their starting lineup.
Their last win, against the lowly Utah Jazz a week ago at Staples Center, is surrounded by 10 losses as they prepare for the daunting Grammy Trip next week. At 14-23 and seven games behind eight-seeded Dallas, forward Pau Gasol spoke to Mark Medina of the LA Daily News about the teams playoff chances:
Best case scenario, we come out everyday competing with great effort, get some bodies back and we get some good results. Then from then on, whatever that is at the end of the season and whatever record we finish with, we should be okay with it that we gave everything we have. If that means making the playoffs, that would be great. It’d be tough because of the position we put ourselves into right now.
As guard Kendall Marshall said after the game, there was nothing positive to take from the loss as the Lakers scored just eight points in the third quarter and the Clippers saw their lead stretch to 41 points at one point. It was a tough week for the team mentally as trade rumors surrounding Gasol clearly affected the mood of the team.
Incredibly enough, if the Lakers were in the Eastern Conference they’d be one game out of the eight seed as the Western Conference has proven to be the superior conference this season. Hopefully for the Lakers they’ll be able to beat up on those Eastern teams during the road trip and it seems like the season has officially hit rock bottom.
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ICYMI: Pau Gasol had this to say about the rivalry with the Clippers.
