The Los Angeles Lakers took on the L.A. Clippers on Wednesday night in what was their final game as the road team inside Crypto.com Arena, barring a potential playoff matchup later this year.
Both teams were missing key players, but this was a game the Lakers desperately needed to win to make up some ground in the standings. While they were down 21 at one point, the Lakers were able to fight all the way back to earn a 116-112 victory.
The Clippers were without two starters in Paul George and Ivica Zubac, but they still got off to a nice 10-6 start with the Lakers missing some easy shots.
Given the Clippers’ lack of size though, Anthony Davis and Rui Hachimura eventually got going inside to tie the game at 12. After a timeout though, Kawhi Leonard got going offensively, making a pair of buckets while also getting fouled. After Leonard beat the buzzer with a putback, the Clippers held a slim 30-29 lead at the end of the first quarter.
James Harden was doing what James Harden does to begin the second, hunting for fouls and it was working as the Clippers extended their lead.
Defensive rebounding has been a big issue as of late for the Lakers and that continued in their second quarter with the Clippers earning second-chance points to push their advantage to double digits.
Meanwhile, the Lakers seemingly couldn’t do anything right as they struggled offensively while allowing Harden to get to the rim and foul line with ease. The Lakers went into the halftime locker room trailing 66-52 after an extremely poor second quarter.
The Lakers showed some life to begin the third as they went on an 8-0 run behind Davis’ defense and some transition buckets by Reaves. The Clippers immediately responded with a 10-1 run, however, to take their largest lead of the night to that point at 81-63.
As the Lakers continued to commit silly turnovers and struggled on the defensive glass, the Clippers continued to convert on open 3-pointers. Davis tried to do what he could to keep his team in it, but the Lakers still went into the fourth quarter trailing 96-77 after Norman Powell beat the buzzer with a triple.
The Lakers again showed some life with a run to begin the fourth quarter. James connected on back-to-back triples to get the deficit down to nine, forcing a Clippers timeout. James continued to be red-hot out of the timeout with five more points to make it a five-point game.
LeBron wasn’t done there as after yet another triple and then some Davis free throws, the Lakers have come all the way back to tie it at 106.
As the Clippers continued to implode, the Lakers were able to take the lead on a triple and then a layup by Rui Hachimura.
Harden ended a 12-0 Lakers run with a crafty finish, but Russell responded with a triple to continue pouring it on.
The game wasn’t over there though as Leonard had back-to-back buckets to cut the deficit to two in the final minute. After a James miss, the Clippers had a chance to win it down two with 9.3 to play.
Leonard missed a midrange jumper though with James defending him, allowing the Lakers to close out the comeback victory.
What’s next for the Lakers
This was the front end of a back-to-back as the Lakers will return to the court on Thursday night when they host the Washington Wizards.
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