The Clippers are finally coming back home, but are technically still on the road as they play their first contest of the season against the rival Lakers.

Game Information

Where: Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, California

When: 8:00 PM PT

How to Watch: NBC, Peacock FanDuel Sports SoCal, AM 570

Projected Starting Lineups

Clippers: James Harden – Kris Dunn – Kawhi Leonard – John Collins – Ivica Zubac

Lakers: Luka Doncic – Austin Reaves – Rui Hachimura – LeBron James – Jaxon Hayes

Injuries

Clippers: Bogdan Bogdanovic Questionable (Hip), Bradley Beal Out (Hip), Derrick Jones Jr. Out (Knee), Jordan Miller Out (Hamstring)

Lakers: DeAndre Ayton Out (Knee)

The Big Picture

The Clippers’ season just continues to trudge along. Kawhi Leonard returned to the Clips on Sunday and looked ok, but was not nearly enough to help them win an admittedly tough game on the road in Cleveland. Perhaps the best element of that game for the Clippers was Zu going off for a monstrous 33 points and 18 rebounds, showing some of the offensive prowess that made him such a force last season, but there was not a ton of other positives. The defense, in particular, continues to not really improve, remaining ranked at 25^th in a tie with the Charlotte Hornets (and we all saw how awful their defense was on Saturday). Kawhi needs time to re-integrate, and Bogi should hopefully be back soon, but the Clippers’ defense is so far away that it makes almost everything else moot.

The Antagonist

The Lakers are interesting because they’re 12-4 (tied for the fourth-best record in the league) yet boast the 15^th ranked Net Rating. In short, their win total is well ahead of their projected wins, which would have them more as a 9-7 team. Still, the Lakers are at least competent on both ends, and that’s with LeBron James playing just two games so far and both Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves missing a couple of contests as well. The Lakers are getting more than expected from Marcus Smart and DeAndre Ayton as well as really good Jake Laravia minutes, and it’s those supporting pieces that have bolstered the team with LeBron out. The Lakers’ offense will only get better as the season goes along, and while I think the Clippers have some places to hunt on the other end of the court, their defense to this point shows no signs of being able to slow the Lakers’ tri-headed attack.

Notes

Mapping out the Defense: Trying to figure out how the Clippers will defend the Lakers is interesting. Ivica Zubac will guard Jaxson Hayes. That’s easy. After that, not so much. Rui Hachimura is the least threatening of the Lakers’ perimeter players, so you’d think the Clippers would want to stash James Harden on him. They might well do that, but Rui can punish James on cuts and the offensive glass. If Harden is on Rui, then that means John Collins will have to guard one of the Lakers’ stars – sounds bad! I think he could do ok on the “old LeBron” we’ve seen so far. After that, Kris Dunn is a bit undersized on Luka, so him getting Reaves and Kawhi taking Luka makes sense from there. If all of that sounds like the Clippers are disadvantaged on defense almost across the board, that’s what it seems like to me too! Maybe the Clippers will lock in on a nationally televised game against their cross-town rivals. We have to hope so, anyway, or this could get ugly fast.

Clippers vs Lakers Preview: First Cross Town Meeting of 2025
Robert Flom

Two nights after losing against the Lakers, the Clippers will square off against their Pacific Division rivals once more.

Game Information

Where: Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, California

When: 6:30 PM PT

How to Watch: FanDuel Sports SoCal, AM 570

Projected Starting Lineups

Clippers: James Harden – Norman Powell – Kris Dunn – Kawhi Leonard – Ivica Zubac

Lakers: Gabe Vincent – Luka Doncic – LeBron James – Dorian Finney-Smith – Jaxson Hayes

Injuries

Clippers: Norm Powell Probable (Knee), Derrick Jones Jr. Out (Groin), Kai Jones Out (G-League), Cam Christie Out (G-League), Trentyn Flowers Out (G-League)

Lakers: Austin Reaves Doubtful (Calf), Jordan Goodwin Doubtful (Ankle), Rui Hachimura Out (Knee), Maxi Kleber Out (Foot)

Standings Watch

The good news for the Clippers is that a bunch of teams in the West lost this weekend. The bad news is that a bunch of them won – just one of the complications in a conference with 12 teams jockeying for postseason spots and only three teams (Thunder on top, Jazz and Pelicans on the bottom) unconcerned with seeding. The struggles of the Rockets and Grizzlies of late have kept the Clippers within a potential (if unlikely) path to a top 4 seed, but the Suns, Blazers, and Spurs all won, meaning that they are keeping a similar distance from the Clippers – not likely to catch up, but not impossible either. The 10^th seeded Kings have won two in a row, meaning they are just 1.5 games back from the Clippers. The Clippers really need to start winning, or they are going to fall from a playoff spot to the bottom of the play-in in a hurry. Fortunately, they got some good news late on Saturday, with the Sixers shocking the Warriors and preventing the Dubs from passing the Clippers in the standings. Paul George: helping the Clippers win!

Notes

Norm in, DJJ Out: Norm Powell is finally back after missing the first five games after the All Star Break – but no sooner is he back than Derrick Jones Jr. is out with a groin strain. While the Clippers will miss DJJ’s defense and above-the-rim play, they desperately need Norm’s shooting and downhill driving to alleviate the pressure on James Harden. This will be a bit of an offense-defense shift, with the Clippers getting a jolt in the arm on one end but taking a real hit on the other end. Hopefully Kris Dunn, Ben Simmons, and Ivica Zubac can hold the fort down on the defensive end with DJJ out, and even more hopefully this is a brief absence for the veteran wing.

Getting Bench Production: While James Harden had an absolutely miserable game on Friday night and Kawhi Leonard was “meh”, the real reason the Clippers lost to the Lakers was the discrepancy in bench play. The Clippers got just 14 points, 4 rebounds, and 6 assists from their bench while the Lakers’ bench, not exactly the starriest bunch, accumulated 29 points, 18 rebounds, and 6 assists. The +/- tells an even clearer story, with Nic Batum at a -13, Ben Simmons -19, Bogdan Bogdanovic -20, and Amir Coffey -14, while the Lakers bench were all in double-digit pluses outside of Dalton Knecht. The Clippers need their stars to be better, but they also need their bench to give them something, specifically for Coffey and Bogi to hit threes while not getting barbecued on defense. Fingers crossed they play better tonight.

Clippers vs Lakers Preview: Back to Back in LA
Robert Flom

The Clippers have one of their biggest games of the season tonight, a showdown against the crosstown Lakers on national television.

Game Information

Where: Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, California

When: 7:00 PM PT

How to Watch: ESPN, FanDuel Sports SoCal, AM 570

Projected Starting Lineups

Clippers: James Harden – Kris Dunn – Derrick Jones Jr. – Kawhi Leonard – Ivica Zubac

Lakers: Austin Reaves – Luka Doncic – LeBron James – Rui Hachimura – Jaxson Hayes

Injuries

Clippers: Norm Powell Questionable (Knee), Jordan Miller Out (G-League) Kai Jones Out (G-League), Cam Christie Out (G-League), Trentyn Flowers Out (G-League)

Lakers: Maxi Kleber Out (Foot)

The Big Picture

The Clippers got a much-needed win on Wednesday, though it certainly wasn’t pretty. Their victory over the Bulls was very different than most of their wins this season, as the Clippers’ offense mostly worked pretty well while their defense was shoddy. In fact, their defense was bad enough to sink them down to 3^rd in the NBA after sitting at 2^nd in defense for over a month. Hopefully that one game is just an outlier, because the Clippers’ defense will need to be up to its usual standard if they are going to maintain their place in the standings with their difficult upcoming schedule. Fortunately, it appears as though Norm Powell will be coming back soon, as he was upgraded to questionable for this game. Let’s hope he makes an appearance in this one.

The Antagonist

The Lakers have continued to surge, winning their last three in a row, eight of their last 10, and 15 of their last 19. They are still hanging out at 5^th in the West, but are only a single loss (and two games behind) the 2^nd seeded Grizzlies. Somehow, incredibly, they remain only 15^th in Net Rating, with the 10^th best offense and 13^th ranked defense in the NBA. However, those numbers are rising, as the Lakers’ defense has been the best in the league over the past month. The Lakers have gone small since trading Anthony Davis, relying on switching and the size of their perimeter players to make up for their lack of size on the interior – and it has worked quite well. On offense, the Lakers are incredibly difficult to guard, with the three-headed monster of Luka, LeBron, and Reaves being quite dynamic and tough to contain. Sadly, the Lakers have all the makings of a very good playoff team, even if they might not have the depth or size to be a true championship caliber squad this year.

Notes

Feeding Zu: As mentioned, the Lakers’ biggest weakness is that their big man depth is… shaky. Jaxson Hayes is their starting center, and while he’s put up some big statlines on offense since the Luka trade, he’s not very good on defense outside of jumping high for blocks. When he’s not playing, the Lakers go small with one of LeBron, Rui, or Dorian Finney-Smith at center. None of those guys should be able to guard Zu consistently in the post, provided the Clippers actually feed him there! The Clippers have a bad habit of going over from Zubac even when he has good matchups, and they can’t do that in this one. Zu can have a big game in this one if the Clippers make giving him the ball a priority – and if he’s able to stick on defense when the Lakers go small and try to stretch the Clippers out.

Limiting Turnovers: Turnovers are always bad. They are particularly bad against a Lakers team with Luka Doncic and LeBron James, two of the best passers of their generation and players who are very adept at picking teams apart on the break. The Clippers’ biggest issue this season on offense outside of some shaky shooting has been their turnovers, which are too often unforced and live-ball giveaways. It’s easier said than done to not turn the ball over, but the Clippers really need to tighten up their handles and make smart passes in this one, or things could get ugly in a hurry.

Clippers vs Lakers Preview: First Look at Luka Laker
Robert Flom

The Clippers and Lakers have both made recent trades of varying sizes and importance levels, but this game would be massively important even without that backdrop, as the two LA teams are right next to one another in the standings.

Game Information

Where: Intuit Dome, Inglewood, California

When: 7:00 PM PT

How to Watch: TNT

Projected Starting Lineups

Lakers: Austin Reaves – Gabe Vincent – LeBron James – Rui Hachimura – Jaxson Hayes

Clippers: James Harden – Norm Powell – Derrick Jones Jr. – Kawhi Leonard – Ivica Zubac

Injuries

Lakers: Luka Doncic Out (Calf), Maxi Kleber Out (Foot), Christian Wood Out (Knee)

Clippers: Cam Christie Out (Ankle), Kai Jones Out (G-League), Trentyn Flowers Out (G-League)

The Big Picture

The Clippers are coming off one of their worst losses of the entire season – maybe the worst. Yes, the Raptors are playing better lately. And yes, the Clippers were on the road at the end of a semi-lengthy trip. And yes, Norm Powell, Kris Dunn, and the Clippers’ new acquisitions were all out. But the Clippers were flatfooted and lethargic from the start, with their transition defense being non-existent, their ball movement stagnant, and their effort level poor across the board. It was one of the first times all season where it distinctly seemed as though the team had gone out and partied the night before and either did not get enough sleep or were playing through hangovers. That probably was not the case – but it sure felt that way. It was bad all the way around, with the game not really being close in the second half. Hopefully the Clippers put that loss behind them and come out with more fire tonight.

The Antagonist

The Lakers haven’t done anything of note recently have they? Nah. Oh wait. Rob Pelinka and the Lakers landed the opportunity of a literal lifetime when Mavericks GM decided to offer up superstar Luka Doncic on a silver platter for the excellent (but aging) Anthony Davis. A couple weeks of negotiation later and Luka is now a Laker (alongside Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris), though he is still out with injury. The Lakers have been playing well of late even before the Doncic trade, largely due to an improved defense, and have found some interesting lineups with Austin Reaves at point guard and Dorian Finney-Smith receiving increased minutes. Until Doncic returns or the Lakers make further moves to bolster their rotation they will be a bit thin, but LeBron, Reaves, and the rest of their role players should be able to keep the Lakers above water until that happens. Sadly, the Lakers are in a very good place now, and an even better one for the next five years. It’s bad news for their cross-town rivals, that’s for sure.

Notes

Dunn Back: After suiting up for the Clippers and being in Ty Lue’s rotation the first 42 games of the season, Kris Dunn has missed the last seven games with knee soreness. He’s finally back now, but the question remains whether he will actually be in the rotation in today’s game. Dunn’s minutes were dwindling the past few weeks due to his prolonged offensive slump, and he logged less than 20 minutes in his last four games played. His defense has been invaluable, and the Clippers’ coaching staff has talked him up enough to where I think he’ll probably get minutes, but it might be in an even more reduced role. And if he does play, it’s possible other Clippers (Terance Mann being by far the most likely) get squeezed from the rotation instead. I hope Dunn plays because of how impactful he is on defense, but it’s an open question as to his role on a healthy Clippers team with Kawhi Leonard.

The New Guys: The Lakers’ new players are mostly out with injury (Markieff Morris is available but it’s doubtful he’s in the rotation), but the Clippers’ additions are available. Patty Mills barely played for the Jazz and has been bad for years, so I can’t imagine he plays minutes for Ty Lue. Drew Eubanks, the team’s new backup center, is a different story. The question is whether Ty Lue will want to throw him into a very important game without having any real time to acclimate to the Clippers or hold him out until he is able to practice a bit. The Lakers, fortuitously, are very small right now, as they traded away Anthony Davis, Christian Wood is out, and they haven’t made any final moves before the deadline to strengthen their big man rotation. Thus, if push comes to shove, Eubanks could probably be held out and Ty Lue could go small on the second unit with Kawhi, Nic Batum, and three of the Clippers’ guards/wings. Eubanks will certainly be in the rotation eventually; I just don’t know whether he will tonight.

Clippers vs Lakers Preview: Another Huge Game
Robert Flom

The Clippers have won three games in a row against subpar competition going into the most important game of the season so far, the first of their contests against the crosstown Lakers.

Game Information

Where: Intuit Dome, Inglewood, California

When: 6:00 PM PT

How to Watch: NBA TV, FanDuel Sports SoCal, AM 570

Projected Starting Lineups

Lakers: Austin Reaves – Max Christie – LeBron James – Rui Hachimura – Anthony Davis

Clippers: James Harden – Norman Powell –Derrick Jones Jr. – Kawhi Leonard – Ivica Zubac

Injuries

Lakers: Jarred Vanderbilt Out (Foot), Christian Wood Out (Knee), Anthony Davis Questionable (Foot), LeBron James Probable (Foot), Jalen Hood-Schifino Out (Hamstring), Dorian Finney-Smith Questionable (Personal)

Clippers: James Harden Questionable (Illness), Kris Dunn Questionable (Knee), Ivica Zubac Questionable (Back), Norm Powell Questionable (Back), PJ Tucker Out (Away from team)

The Big Picture

The Clippers have won three games in a row, albeit against very poor competition. Still, vibes are much higher after a previous rough patch, with the defense in particular standing out against the Heat, Nets, and Blazers. The Clippers’ offense has remained stuck in neutral for the most part, with small stretches of excellence being the exception, not the norm. Kawhi Leonard played great against the Nets, his best game of the season so far by a wide margin, and hopefully that is a sign of things to come.

The Antagonist

The Lakers rank 6^th in the West with a 22-17 record. However, they are, incredibly, 21^st in the NBA and 12^th in the Western Conference in Net Rating at -2.6. Breaking the Lakers down further, they are 13^th on offense and 24^th on defense – they don’t stand out on either end of the court. Their record, therefore, is much better than stats would indicate it “should” be. This is a mixture of luck, clutch play in close games, and having a stretch of bad losses that skewed their margin of victory. Logic indicates they are not a very good team… yet they keep winning games. Classic Lakers. In all seriousness, the Lakers have gotten extraordinary health again from their best players, with only fringe rotation players losing much time due to injury. Anthony Davis is having a very good season, LeBron James continues to defy father time in many respects, and Austin Reaves is an excellent third banana. The rest of the roster, well, it’s not great Bob. The Lakers have gotten just enough from their role players to scrape up wins, but the other shoe could drop at any moment.

Notes

Injury Report Weirdness: When the Clippers’ injury report dropped last night, a lot of fans were dismayed to see four core Clippers players listed as “questionable” after none of them had been on the injury report in recent weeks. There are a few possibilities here. First, all of those players really are having issues and are legitimately questionable for this game. Second, the Clippers are thinking of resting a couple players for this game since it’s the first game of a back-to-back as well as the first in a grueling four-in-five stretch, and need to specify a reason beyond just “rest”. Third, the Clippers are just engaging in some mind games with the Lakers. Hopefully it’s the second or third option, because Zu, Harden, Norm, and Dunn picking up injuries/illnesses right before this brutal stretch would be a nightmare. At least Kawhi is fully good to go for tonight’s game, although he will almost certainly be out tomorrow.

Homecourt Advantage at Intuit: This will be the Lakers’ first visit to the Intuit Dome, and I’m very curious to see what the crowd is like. For years at Staples, Clippers’ home games against the Lakers would be akin to a 50-50 split, especially when the Clippers were good/exciting and the Lakers were neither. There were games where it felt like the Clippers had a real homecourt advantage, but most of the time it was down the middle. Compared to the days when Clippers’ home games against the Lakers were packed to the gills with Lakers fans this was an improvement, but I know Steve Ballmer and the Clippers organization hopes that a new, separate stadium will allow for the Clippers to have a true homecourt edge – even against the Lakers. It would be great if the split for this game was more like 70/30 Clippers to Lakers fans. We will just have to see.

Clippers vs Lakers Preview: Biggest Game of Season So Far
Robert Flom

The LA Clippers dropped their final game as a co-tenant to the LA Lakers, 116-112.

Summary

In the NBA, there’s a bit of an unwritten rule coined by former NBA coach Phil Jackson called the ’40 before 20′ rule. It basically says that in order to be a legitimate NBA title contender, a team has to reach 40 wins before 20 losses.

In the past 30 years, only three teams have gone on to win an NBA championship without reaching that mark. The Clippers had a chance to get to that mark, but no longer after losing the season series to the Lakers.

Even being short-handed, the Clippers came out of the gates ready to play. The first quarter was a see-saw game with a few lead changes and the Clippers managed to grab a one-point lead, 30-29, after a tip in at the buzzer by Kawhi Leonard.

In the second quarter, it was the Terance Mann show. Building off his first quarter dunk over Anthony Davis, Mann was everywhere on the court, active around the rim, making hustle plays, and disrupting the Lakers offense.

The Clippers built up a 66-52 lead at the half, limiting their turnovers while forcing them on the other end. Neither team was able to hit shots from the three-point line but the major difference in the game was the Clippers activity and just generally being much quicker and locked-in on the court.

In the third quarter, the Clippers three-point looks began to fall. While the Lakers struck first in the opening minutes of the third quarter, the Clippers had a response. With a 96-77 lead heading into the fourth quarter, the game looked in hand.

The fourth quarter was when everything fell apart. A strange lineup to start the final period that included Russell Westbrook, PJ Tucker and Mason Plumlee allowed the LeBron James and the Lakers to get on a roll and they never cooled off. By the time the starters came back in, the momentum had shifted and the game was lost.

After the game, Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue put the blame squarely on himself.

“Offensively we weren’t very organized, we didn’t get organized, we didn’t do what we were supposed to do and so I take full responsibility for that,” Lue said. “You’re the leader of the team and you’re up 21 points, you can’t lose a game like that. . .to lose a 21-point lead in the fourth quarter, that’s not like us. So we’ve got to be better in that regard. I don’t think that’s ever happened in my career so long as I’ve been coaching.”

Even with the meltdown in the fourth quarter, the Clippers still miraculously had a chance to either win the game or get to overtime. After a few quick buckets by Leonard and a few quick stops, the Clippers had the ball with 9.3 seconds remaining and trailing, 114-112.

The Clippers put the ball in Leonard’s hands and his fadeaway jumper to tie the game came up short. The Lakers outscored the Clippers, 39-16 in the fourth quarter with James himself outscoring them, 19-16.

Following the game, Leonard highlighted the Clippers poor transition defense off turnovers as a major catalyst, not just in the Lakers loss, but during losses throughout the month of February.

“I think it’s transition. . .we’ve got to do that. We’ve got to get back, we’ve got to talk, we got to communicate. We’ve got to come in the game wanting to stop the other team,” Leonard said. “When you’re throwing them the ball and they’re getting easy layups, it’s hard. We got to definitely focus in on the offensive end there, but pretty much everybody is telling everybody to get back for the most part.”

Clippers vs. Lakers Game Recap: Fourth Quarter Meltdown
David Yapkowitz

The Clippers had a few days off to recover from their blowout loss at the hands of the Kings, and now take on the cross-town Lakers.

Game Information

Where: Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, CA

When: 7PM PT

How to Watch: Clippervision, Bally Sports SoCal, ESPN

Tickets: For great deals on Clippers tickets, check out Barry’s Tickets!

Projected Starting Lineups

Clippers: James Harden – Terance Mann – Norman Powell – Kawhi Leonard – Ivica Zubac

Lakers: D’Angelo Russell – Austin Reaves – Rui Hachimura – LeBron James – Anthony Davis

Injury Report

Clippers: Paul George out (knee).

Lakers: LeBron James questionable (ankle), Anthony Davis probable (Achilles), Cam Reddish probable (ankle), Christian Wood out (knee), Jarred Vanderbilt out (foot), Gabe Vincent out (knee).

The Big Picture

The Clippers continue their home stand looking to get back on track after a disappointing showing against the Kings on Sunday.

They will have had two days of rest and that should help them as they’re going be short-handed once again. Paul George has been ruled out due to the knee issue.

The Clippers weren’t really bad offensively, as the entire starting lineup was in double figures. It’s been the defense that’s been concerning. They haven’t been able to put together a complete defensive game since the win against the Boston Celtics back during the beginning of the Grammy road trip.

George being out also shortens the bench. With Powell in the starting lineup, that takes away the Clippers main offensive punch in the second unit. The bench as a whole didn’t play so well against the Kings. They’ll need to be better on Wednesday.

The Antagonist

The LA Lakers come into the game still looking like one of the most inconsistent teams in the league. They’ve been stuck in the 9-10 range in the West and have been unable to move up.

Earlier this month they grabbed two impressive road wins against the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks. Then they have games like Sunday against the Phoenix Suns where they don’t show up in the first quarter and dig themselves an early hole they can’t get out of.

It’s never clear what team is going to show up on a game to game basis. But judging by the previous meetings this season, the Clippers should expect the Lakers to bring their A-game.

One thing to monitor is the availability of LeBron James. James is currently listed as questionable and his final status likely won’t be determined until right before game time.

James didn’t play in the last meeting between these two teams and coincidentally that’s the only one of the previous three the Clippers have won.

This game also represents the end of an era. It will be the final time these two teams will face off against each other in the regular season as hallway neighbors as the Clippers will move to Intuit Dome next season.

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Clippers vs. Lakers Game Preview
David Yapkowitz

With the LA Clippers move to Intuit Dome next season, they’ve officially clinched the hallway series at Crypto.com Arena/Staples Center with their 127-118 win against the LA Lakers on Tuesday.

Summary

When the news broke that LeBron James was going to be out for the latest installment of Clippers vs. Lakers, it took some of the air out of what was shaping up to be a highly-anticipated matchup.

Even so, there was still plenty of energy and intensity in the air as both teams took the court. Despite not having James in the lineup, the Lakers still came out ready to play. James Harden also came out ready to play for the Clippers and his first quarter helped set the tone for the rest of the game.

In the second quarter, the Clippers took advantage of the Lakers poor defense to extend their lead. Harden continued his hot shooting from the first quarter to finish with 20 points in the first half. The Lakers had strong contributions from Anthony Davis and D’Angelo Russell, but the Clippers managed to take a double digit lead, 77-64, into the locker room.

The second half was where things started to get a little out of hand for the Clippers. The energy and intensity they had in the first half was seemingly gone as the Lakers got back into the game. The Clippers were careless with the ball, resulting in turnovers and scoring opportunities for the Lakers.

Although the Clippers continued to shoot the ball well against the Lakers defense, it was the turnovers that allowed the game to be close. While the Clippers managed to hold on and fend the Lakers off, Tyronn Lue was not very pleased with the team’s effort in the second half.

“We weren’t really good defensively, a lot of rotations were messed up, not getting back in transition, all the things we talked about doing, we didn’t do a good job of tonight,” Lue said after the game. “Those are things we got to be sharp with every single night. . .just overall we didn’t play a good defensive game, we didn’t do a good job with our coverages especially defensively, we were all over the place and so we just got to keep getting better.”

A big part of the Clippers win was the play of Kawhi Leonard. Leonard got his points, but also was a force on the glass and a playmaker as well. He put up his second career triple double with 23 points, ten rebounds and ten assists. Following the game, he was quick to credit his teammates with being able to get him the ten assists.

“It’s based on my teammates making shots. . .passed them the ball and they knocked it down with confidence,” Leonard said. “Me making shots early allowed them to throw two people at me and I just tried to make the right play.”

The Clippers now head out on the road for a seven-game trip before returning back home on Feb. 7 against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Clippers vs. Lakers Game Recap: Hallway Series Clincher
David Yapkowitz

The Clippers will close out a solid homestand against their LA rivals, the hated Lakers.

Game Information

Where: Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, CA

When: 7PM PT

How to Watch: TNT

Projected Starting Lineups

Clippers: James Harden – Terance Mann – Paul George – Kawhi Leonard – Mason Plumlee

Lakers: D’Angelo Russell – Austin Reaves – Taurean Prince – Rui Hachimura – Anthony Davis

Injury Report

Clippers: Ivica Zubac out (calf), Moussa Diabate out (hand)

Lakers: LeBron James out (ankle), Gabe Vincent out (ankle), Anthony Davis probable (Achilles), Jarred Vanderbilt probable (heel)

The Big Picture

The LA Clippers end their recent home-stand with a game against their neighbor down the hall, the LA Lakers. It’s their final home game before embarking on a road trip that takes them almost to mid-February.

They’re coming off one of the most inspiring wins of the season against the Brooklyn Nets, during which they ended the game on a 22-0 run to come back from being down 18 to win.

This team is rolling and continues to find ways to win. With the NBA Trade Deadline coming up, there really isn’t anything this team needs to do. They’re playing the way it was envisioned when they made the James Harden trade and they’ve stayed relatively healthy.

The Antagonist

The LA Lakers come into the game as one of the most inconsistent teams in the league. They’ve beaten the Clippers twice already this season, but also have some head-scratching losses.

They’ve been hovering around .500 for the majority of the season. They’ve also been one of the teams mentioned most frequently in trade rumors.

Whatever the reason for their inconsistency, they’ve been ready to play against the Clippers this season. They’ll be without LeBron James though who has been dealing with an ankle injury. That just means more touches for Anthony Davis who has been quietly having an incredible season.

If the Clippers can grab a win here, they can end this home-stand on a high note and carry some momentum into the upcoming road trip.

Clippers vs. Lakers Preview: Home-stand at an end
David Yapkowitz

In what was likely their worst performance with Kawhi since their big losing streak, the Clippers are handed their first loss of 2024.

Game Summary

First Quarter:

The Clippers came out of the gates strong. They started off with great defensive intensity blitzing Reaves and LeBron on nearly every PnR they ran. This led to turnovers for the Lakers and points for the Clippers. After building up a 9 point lead, things started to stagnate as the Clippers found themselves in a nearly 4 minute scoring drought plagued by turnovers of their own and bad shot attempts. The quarter ended with both teams shooting a meager 8 for 22 with really nothing good for the fans to watch.

Second Quarter:

Unfortunately for everyone who likes watching good Clippers basketball, the second quarter did not have much of that. The Lakers played inspired basketball keeping it close all throughout. They found success imitating defensive schemes they were all too familiar with last year, as they ignored Russ and comfortably sent doubles all around the court. To make matters worse, Kawhi and Harden struggled with getting the ball through the hoop, ending the half shooting a miserable 4-14 between them. The Clippers ended the quarter up by 4 points, with Zubac being LAC’s player of the half with a solid 14 points and 7 rebounds.

Third Quarter:

In case you thought the Clippers would come out with better intensity and rhythm, I’ve got some bad news for you: they did not. In fact, they looked even worse this quarter than they did in the last one. Tough shots, tons of turnovers, weak defense, and Russ chucking up 3s. If that wasn’t bad enough, some pretty favorable officiating for the Lakers capped off by an egregious non-take foul call led them to a 4 point Lakers’ lead to end the quarter.

Fourth Quarter:

Luckily, the Clippers didn’t have a third bad quarter in a row, right? Wrong. The Lakers came out hot establishing a 10 point lead, but the Clippers fought their way back with Norman Powell leading the way with big back to back 3s. If I had to describe the end to the game in one word, the first thing that comes to mind is “inexplicable.” The play calling and offensive execution would make one believe that Ty Lue was trying to save Darvin Ham’s job. To note a couple of the more head scratching decisions:

• Harden had Reaves switched onto him for multiple possessions, and he didn’t even look to score. Consistent with most of his night, Harden was frustratingly fixated on passing on the majority of possessions.
• Kawhi also had Reaves switched onto him for multiple possessions, and while he did look to score, he did so slowly and without much force. He settled for a few jumpers that weren’t bad, but he almost certainly could have gotten better looks.
• Ty Lue burned his final timeout at the 2:47 mark in order to sub in Mann for Kawhi due to a previously unshared minutes restriction. I can understand wanting to adhere to a minutes restriction, but to burn your final timeout to get him out (only to sub him in for the final possession) seemed less than ideal.
• PG tried to hunt AD on multiple possessions, which he failed at every time. With D’Lo and Reaves on the court, going at a DPOY candidate was a really sub-optimal decision.
• On two of their final possessions while they were playing down, the Clippers burned through a significant amount of shot clock to get their shot attempts up. The lack of urgency was again, not great.

Overall, this was one of the worst games the Clippers have played in a long time with Kawhi. The defensive intensity, decision making, and offensive execution was just all around bad. This loss gives their cross town rivals some life, which is never something you want to do in such a competitive race to the playoffs. If you want to take something positive away from this game, then the one bright beacon we had was Zubac. He finished with 22 points and 19 boards.

The other good news is that the Clippers can right their wrongs tomorrow night, as they face the Phoenix Suns in LA!

Additional Notes:

• Plumlee and Theis: Wood’s size unsurprisingly gave the Clippers a hard time in his minutes matched up with Daniel Theis. This is a trend that we’ve seen from the start of his LAC tenure, and though Theis has been a great pickup, it’s a bit baffling to see Plumlee seemingly out of the rotation.
• Mann: Mann was 2-3 from deep tonight, but his offense continues to be a real issue for the Clippers. Despite his (limited) shots going in, his continued reluctance to shoot led to awful offensive execution. The Lakers comfortably ignored him at the 3 point line all night, and on multiple occasions, he’d find himself wide open from deep with limited shot clock. Instead of taking the shot, he would drive in and make poor plays.
• Russ’ Struggles: The Lakers were all too familiar with Westbrook’s offensive deficiencies, and their defensive gameplan showed this loud and clear. They ignored him all night and baited him into shooting four 3-pointers. Arguably the biggest turning point of the night was when Russ launched back to back 3 pointers in the 3rd quarter. Both were bad misses that led to back to back 3s from D’Lo.

Clippers fall to Lakers, 106-103
Niels Pineda