The Los Angeles Lakers faced the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday in the final game between the two teams at Crypto.com Arena before the Clippers move to their own arena next season.
The Lakers came in with a 31-28 record, which put them in 10th place in the Western Conference, and they badly need wins to improve their chances of making the playoffs.
After a close first quarter, the Clippers opened a 14-point lead with 4:09 left in the second quarter riding advantages in free throws and forced turnovers. They led by 14 at halftime as the Lakers couldn’t force them out of their preferred actions on offense. After the Lakers made a mini-rally early in the third period, the Clippers pushed their lead to 18 and led by 19 at the end of three quarters on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Norman Powell.
It looked like the Purple and Gold were dead in the water. But that’s when LeBron James happened.
With him making play after play, the Lakers cut into their deficit, and the Clippers gradually lost their swagger. The Lakers took a 109-106 lead with 3:10 remaining, and they never looked back. Even when their lead went from six to two with 36 seconds left, they came up with a clutch defensive stop to preserve a 116-112 victory.
Since the 2012-13 season, the Clippers have won the vast majority of their games versus the Lakers. But thanks to this win, the Lakers took the 2023-24 season series, 3-1.
It was a nice way for the Purple and Gold to bounce back from a weak loss on Sunday to the Phoenix Suns in which they were badly outrebounded and outscored from the free-throw line.
For a change, the Lakers outrebounded their opponents, and they also had the edge in 3-pointers. They shot 14-of-36 from downtown compared to 10-of-37 for the Clippers. In the fourth quarter, they made a whopping nine treys compared to one for the Clippers.
This game was yet another example of how the Lakers can beat any team in the NBA when they play hard and play up to their ability.
Anthony Davis: B/B-plus
As usual, Davis started the game strong with eight points, two blocked shots and one steal in the first quarter before picking up his second foul with just over a minute left in the period. Although he was quiet offensively afterward and didn’t even attempt a single shot in the fourth quarter, he made his impact felt.
He earned four key rebounds in the final five minutes and change to bolster the Lakers’ comeback. In all, he had 12 rebounds and 20 points. He also blocked three shots and added two steals to help his team’s cause.
Rui Hachimura: B-plus/A-minus
Hachimura was assertive in the first half. Even though he missed all three of his 3-point attempts during that time, he scored 10 points, and he had a monster dunk on Terance Mann about midway through the second quarter.
He made the 3-pointer that gave the Lakers their first lead of the second half, and moments later, he hit a reverse layup to put them ahead by five.
The forward finished with 17 points on 8-of-15 shooting in 29 minutes. When he is this aggressive, both on and off the ball, it makes them a significantly better team.
Austin Reaves: B
Reaves was hustling hard at times on Wednesday. In the third quarter, he had back-to-back fast-break buckets off turnovers, and in general, he made a nice effort defensively and in transition.
He shot 6-of-11, giving him 13 points, and he added eight rebounds and five assists in 36 minutes.
D'Angelo Russell: B-plus
Russell was quiet until late in the first quarter. Despite being more assertive in the second period, he only scored seven points in the first half.
He was far more efficient afterward though. While he took just three shots in the second half, he made all of them, and two of them were 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to help the Lakers’ rally, including a cold-blooded one that put them up 114-108 with 1:12 left.
Russell finished with 18 points and six assists while shooting 6-of-10 overall and 3-of-6 from downtown.
LeBron James: A-plus
James had 15 points through three quarters, but he turned into the Hulk afterward. He hit three 3-pointers early in the fourth quarter to spark the Lakers’ big rally, and in all, he hit five treys during the period while shooting 7-of-12 and scoring 19 points. He finished the game with 34 points and six rebounds.
When the Clippers tried sending a second defender at him in the fourth period, he fed Russell and Hachimura for open shots, giving him four assists in the period and eight for the game.
James was also active on the defensive end. He helped force a key Clippers turnover in the fourth quarter, and he had two chase-down block attempts, although one of them resulted in a goaltending violation.
This performance was a reminder that even after all these years, James can still be the best player on the floor for long stretches.
Spencer Dinwiddie: B/B-plus
Dinwiddie had a game-high five assists in the first half. For the game, he dropped six dimes in 20 minutes while also hitting half of his six shot attempts. His ability to hit the open man, not just as the main ballhandler but also in the flow of the offense, has helped the Lakers since his arrival earlier this month.
Cam Reddish: B-minus
Reddish finally returned to game action after missing over a month with an ankle injury. He hit 2-of-4 from the field, which included a 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter, and he also had three rebounds and one steal in 20 minutes.
His return means the Lakers can have a little more length on the floor at the wing position, which helps them defensively and on the boards.
Taurean Prince: D
In 17 minutes, Prince shot 1-of-4 and had two points, two rebounds, one assist and one steal. The Lakers clearly need him to be consistent from 3-point range, but he’s 5-of-17 from the distance in his last four games.
Jaxson Hayes: D
In 11 minutes, Hayes had two rebounds and went scoreless. He had a very nice stretch of games earlier this month, but he has seemingly made almost no impact on the Lakers’ last two games.
With Christian Wood out due to a swollen knee, Hayes really needs to step up, especially on the boards.
Max Christie: Incomplete
Christie played just five seconds — no, that is not a misprint — in this game, and those five seconds of playing time came at the end of the first quarter as a defensive substitution. Not surprisingly, he made no contributions on the stat sheet.
