The battle of Los Angeles continues in Orlando as the Los Angeles Lakers played against their rivals, the Los Angeles Clippers. And, the battle of LA wouldn’t be a true rivalry if the game wasn’t intense. The Lakers beat the Clippers in a close game with a score of 103-101. Here’s the game recap of the Clippers-Lakers game.
1st Quarter
It wasn’t the prettiest of the four quarters but there’s some upside to this. In this quarter alone, there were 22 combined foul calls from both teams. Of those calls,14 of them came from the Clippers. The Lakers were able to go on a 7-0 run midway through the quarter while also getting to the free-throw line. The Clippers kept finding ways to cut the Lakers’ lead down but the damage had been done with those 14 foul calls.
The Lakers took the lead with a score of 35-23. Lakers forward Anthony Davis is one of the main reasons why the Lakers had a big lead, scoring 14 points in just this quarter alone.
2nd Quarter
After being down by 12 points with a score of 41-29, the Clippers went on a 9-0 run, cutting the Lakers’ lead down to three. Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma to extend the lead again by six. However, the Clippers were able to go on another run, scoring 10-1 cutting the lead down to one at the 2:13 mark. The rest of the quarter was intense but the Lakers were able to go into halftime with a two-point lead.
The Lakers kept the lead with a score of 54-52 going into halftime. Davis finished the quarter with 20 points while Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard finished one point behind him with 19.
3rd Quarter
As TNT broadcast commentator Reggie Miller put it, “We got a shootout going here in Orlando!” And it was just that. A shootout. Both teams mostly shot from behind the three-point line and it made the game that much more closer and intense. The Clippers went on a whopping 14-1 run for nearly four minutes giving them an 11 point lead at the 7:05 mark. The Lakers responded back with a 21-11 run to finish the quarter with Davis hitting two big three-pointers in the last two minutes of the quarter giving the Lakers the lead. The Clippers answered back with two three-pointers of their own to end the quarter. However, the Lakers wouldn’t give the Clippers the last shot as Davis made a two-pointer to cut the lead down to one.
The Clippers took the lead with a score of 77-76.
4th Quarter
If the third quarter wasn’t entertaining enough, then wait and see how this game ended. The Lakers went on a 12-0 run taking advantage of the sloppy Clippers’ defense in the early stages of the quarter. The Clippers answered back with a 16-9 run cutting the lead down to one at the 1:46 mark only for Lakers forward LeBron James to make a layup extending the lead back to three. From there, things got intense.
Final Moments
With 41 seconds left, Clippers forward Jamychal Green and Davis both went up for a rebound with the ruling in favor of the Clippers. Clippers guard Paul George hit a three to tie the game at 101 with 28 seconds left. Then James let the clock go to 18 seconds and made his move to the basket. He missed the floater but got his own rebound and put in a layup to give the Lakers a 103-101 lead with 12 seconds left. After the Clippers called a timeout, Leonard received the inbounds pass, tried to get past James but handed the ball off to George with five seconds left. George was guarded by James on a switch and shot a three, but it didn’t go in.
The Lakers won the game with a score of 103-101. The Clippers were also without Lou Williams this game. He’s still going through quarantine after leaving the bubble for a family emergency.
Clippers Key Players
Paul George: 30 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block
Kawhi Leonard: 28 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks
Patrick Beverley: 12 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist
Reggie Jackson: 10 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists
Lakers Key Players:
Anthony Davis: 34 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists
LeBron James: 16 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal, 1 block
Kyle Kuzma: 16 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block
Dion Waiters: 11 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-emefKGzFc]
This is the last meeting these two teams will have unless they meet somewhere in the NBA Playoffs.
The Lakers’ next game is against the defending champions, the Toronto Raptors, on Aug. 1. The Clippers will also play on Aug. 1 against the New Orleans Pelicans.