The Lakers blow a 15-point second half lead, fall to Clippers at "home" on Christmas.
Los Angeles-- For most of three quarters, the Lakers had them.
But on Christmas, a rare day the Clippers were at full strength, the Lakers couldn’t close out the deal.
The Los Angeles Lakers blew a 15 point lead in the second half to lose to their newly archrival Clippers 111-106.
This loss handed the Lakers their 4th consecutive loss after starting the season 24-3, which was inevitable since they are flat out just not that good like everyone perceives them to be.
Kawhi Leonard scored eleven of his thirty-five points in the fourth quarter and had twelve rebounds and five assists to help the Clippers beat Lakers 111-106 on Wednesday night.
The Clippers trailed by twelve points at halftime, by fifteen in the third quarter, and by seven in the fourth quarter with 6 minutes, 39 seconds remaining, but they rallied to improve to 2-0 against the Lakers this season.
"And we didn't flinch," Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. "Like, we just kind of hung in there. Almost felt like we were biding our time and just trying to make a run. That's something you have to have when things aren't going great for you. You just got to hang in there, and I thought we did that tonight."
This is painful to say, but maybe this is what separates the Lakers compared to a real championship-level team, like the Clippers.
Leonard set a franchise record for points on Christmas, and he became the 10th player in NBA history with at least thirty-five points, ten rebounds and five assists on Dec. 25.
“We just gotta get better,” Lakers forward LeBron James said. “And I said that even during the win streaks, the road streaks. For me you stay even-keeled throughout the whole season no matter what. No matter if you’re losing, you’re winning. Because it’s a marathon and a new narrative can be made the next day.”
The Lakers got twenty-three points from James, twenty- four points from Anthony Davis and twenty- five points from Kyle Kuzma. Paul George, who missed their first meeting, scored fifteen points for the Clippers, with five rebounds and three assists. Clippers reserve Montrezl Harrell scored eighteen points, making eight of twelve shots.
Los Angeles Clippers swingman, Paul George was asked what he learned about his team on Christmas night.
“We can beat the best,” he said while regarding the importance of also beating teams, not of the Lakers’ caliber.
Kuzma had missed the season opener, which was partly why the Lakers’ bench got outscored 60-19 in that game. This time, the Lakers’ bench production was far better, with Kuzma scoring fifteen of his points in the first quarter.
It was part of why the Lakers held a 63-51 lead at halftime. After Davis blocked George at the rim, Kuzma made a three-pointer with 23 seconds left in the second quarter, part of a 17-2 run by the Lakers heading into the break.
A collision with Patrick Beverley in the first quarter of the Lakers' 111-106 loss Wednesday night to the Clippers caused LeBron James to aggravate a nagging groin injury and could cause the Lakers star to miss some game time moving forward.
That is not ideal at all, but he needs to rest since they should be able to win games without him, although they proved they can’t do that.
The Laker's defense was a vital part of why the Lakers led the Clippers early. JaVale McGee notched five blocks, while James, Davis, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Dwight Howard each got at least one.
“I think we got back to our defensive intensity tonight, which we were struggling within our other three losses that we had,” Davis said. “We weren’t playing good defense and I think we got back to it tonight.”
But Anthony, let's be honest with ourselves here, the defense wasn't great. The team only played defense for two 1/2 quarters before it all collapsed in front of our eyes.
Despite facing a 15-point deficit in the third quarter, the Clippers finished the period with the score tied at 86. The Lakers made one of 10 three-point attempts during that quarter while the Clippers made five of eight.
It was Leonard’s shooting, ultimately, that made much of the difference. The Lakers felt that they also hurt themselves.
“We fouled them every time down, so when you’re taking the ball out of the net on a free throw, it really breaks your offensive rhythm,” Frank Vogel said. “That’s where it started.”
Leonard made all six free throws he attempted in the fourth quarter, Lou Williams made two and George made two more. Lakers wing Danny Green was called for two fouls on Leonard within 27 seconds span with 2:30 left in the game.
“In the fourth quarter down the stretch, I really let my team down,” Green said.
Those four free throws by Leonard gave the Clippers a four-point lead. James made one of two free throws to cut the margin to 109-106 with 41.9 seconds left.
Williams missed a three-point try, and James had the ball with the seconds counting down toward the end of the game.
He rose to shoot a three-pointer with 3.6 seconds left, and Clippers guard Patrick Beverley deflected the ball out of bounds. It was originally ruled Lakers ball, but the call was reversed after review, with the ball going off James’ hands.
“I’m fortunate I didn’t get a foul,” Beverley said, “especially when you’re guarding a person and a player as good as LeBron James. You just want to stay as solid as possible. I went for it the first time and kind of missed. I thought I was going to get him on the elbow, but he kind of pump-faked and I was able to make a defensive play.”
When the call went the Clippers’ way, coach Doc Rivers clapped, Beverley screamed and James scowled.
Rough way to lose on Christmas, but this will not matter if the Lakers are holding the Larry O'Brien trophy in late June.