The Lakers fought to the end despite being severely undermanned, but lost in a wire-to-wire defeat to the Clippers, 103-88.
The host Clippers jumped out to a double-digit lead from the jump, putting the Lakers in a hole they never could crawl out of. The lead reached 22, but the purple and gold pulled it down to single digits multiple times in the fourth.
However, a horrendous shooting performance from range in which they went 6-37 from three doomed their comeback hopes.
An already depleted Lakers team,
down DeAndre Ayton, Austin Reaves, and Rui Hachimura, played the second half without Luka, who was ruled out with a left leg contusion.
The Lakers started cold with a host of misses. The Clippers scored nine straight points until LeBron converted on a 3-pointer to put the Lakers on the board. He was the only Laker to score, as he also converted on two dunks.
There was a lid on the basket for the Lakeshow as the rest of the team continued missing shots.
Kris Dunn scored five points in a row for the Clippers. The Lakers were shooting an atrocious 16% from behind the arc while the Clippers were shooting a red-hot 66%, a major reason why they were up by 14 at the 3:59 mark.
Luka was having an unusually rough first quarter, missing six shots. Not only was the offense struggling, but the defense was also nonexistent for the Lakers as well. Luka finally scored on a floater down the paint.
At the end of the first, the purple and gold were down by 13, scoring a season low 15 points.
LeBron started the second period by converting on a midrange jumper. Brook Lopez answered with a triple. The quarter belonged to Lopez and LeBron as they were the only players scoring.
Ivica Zubac, who had left the first quarter with an ankle injury, was ruled out for the rest of the game.
Kawhi Leonard went on a 5-0 scoring run, keeping the Clippers up big. Luka drained a 3-pointer to stop some of the bleeding. More Lakers began to score with Hayes and LaRavia combining for eight points.
The team still couldn’t put together enough stops and scores to gain some momentum. At halftime, the Lakers were down by 15. They scored only 39 points in the half, barely avoiding their season low of 38.
Luka was ruled out at the half, so the Lakers began the second half with bad news. Lopez added to it by knocking down another 3-pointer. The Clippers had been missing their shots, allowing the Lakeshow to cut the deficit to 12.
Dunn and Leonard picked up the scoring for the Clippers, pushing their lead to 16. The lead then ballooned to as many as 22. The rest of the quarter was a struggle for the Lakers, who still couldn’t find any rhythm offensively.
They were down by 19 heading into the fourth quarter.
A quick 4-0 run gave the Lakers a mild ounce of life to start the final frame. The momentum shift was happening, as the run grew to 13-0, and the Clippers’ lead was now in single digits.
What seemed like a Lakers takeover went down the drain, as the Clippers scored eight in a row to go back up by double digits. The purple and gold kept chucking 3-pointers, despite being a disgusting 4-33 from behind the arc.
The Lakers then scored six in a row, which was countered with a four-point play from James Harden. LeBron tried to keep the team afloat, scoring eight more points, but time was not on the Lakers’ side, and the deficit was too big to overcome.
Key Player Stats
LeBron James scored 36 points with four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Luka Dončić’s night was cut short due to an injury, and he finished with 12 points, five rebounds, and two assists.
Jake LaRavia notched 12 points with 11 rebounds and six assists. Jaxson Hayes pitched in with eight points, five rebounds and two assists.
Nick Smith Jr. added nine points off the bench. Marcus Smart had five points on an abysmal 1-12 shooting overall and 0-9 shooting from three.
The Lakers’ next matchup will be against the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday at 6:00 PM PT.
You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.
