Alright, welcome in the full recap of the Lakers' matchup with the Clippers in the Battle for LA as the Lakers put up a better effort than the one two nights ago, but the Clippers were able to stand tall in the end, beating the Lakers 100-106 to better position themselves for the playoffs.
We all know the story. No team is judged by moral victories, only by wins and losses. The Lakers, they gave everything they got against the Clippers. Whatever B. Scott told them during practice after that embarrassing beating two nights ago against the same Clippers team, the Lakers responded with a great effort. However, if you look at the talent disparity between the two, clearly the effort won't be enough to pull off a victory. With the talent the Lakers had, they put up a really good fight against a more superior talent in the Clippers.
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Jordan Clarkson, 20 points, 6 assists, 7-17 shooting. The last few nights against the Clippers, Clarkson only put up a whopping 2 points with Chris Paul in his grill. This game, he responded really well. He didn't settle too much for jump shots, but he was attacking the Clippers defense like there was no tomorrow and he put on quite a show in the third quarter to keep the Lakers afloat once again. Overall, I see this as a tremendous bounce back game for Clarkson and did his part in redeeming his game against a perennial star point guard like Chris Paul.
Tarik Black, 16 points, 9 rebounds. Black almost recorded a double-double and he is surprisingly the top performer of the game. I thought he did a solid job in the pick and roll game with Lin and Clarkson. When the Clippers defense was drawing their attention to Clarkson or Lin, they kept leaving Black open for an easy dunk, especially in the 3rd quarter to spark the Lakers' run and keep them within striking distance. Black managed to hold his own against the likes of a DeAndre Jordan. In fact, he did so the last game in which he was 4-5 from the field, just that he was getting more touches and more active slipping past defenders.
Bench. The Lakers bench scored 27 points while the Clippers bench scored 19 points. This was also a difference maker in what kept this game close. The bench stepped up big time providing big buckets. Although, I'll admit those 3 pointers made by Jabari Brown and Dwight Buycks kissed the glass, but they were potential momentum changing 3 pointers. Robert Sacre, as much as I'm not a firm believer in him to be the backup center, he stepped up big time as well down the stretch. The bench also did a nice job in making this game competitive, especially down the stretch of the game.
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Ryan Kelly, 8 points, 3-17 shooting, 6 fouls. Probably the only negative I will point out because most of Kelly's missed shots were examples of missed opportunities. Defensively, he had no answer for Blake Griffin and that is understandable because Griffin's skill set destroys that of Ryan Kelly's any day of the week. But, whenever Kelly had the ball, it was either an open three or a high percentage shot in transition and all game long, he couldn't hit them. There were times in the game where a couple of shots he missed, he was like double clutching his shooting form. It was a mixed bag of both an off night and no confidence for Kelly during the game because some of his missed shots in his 3-17 performance represented some missed opportunities.
Conclusion
Overall, I'll repeat what I said last time I covered a game, it is what it is. However, this Laker team deserves a pat on the back for taking the fight to the Clippers when most expected it to be yet another rout. Not to mention, this game was on TNT, so you wanna give the viewers their money's worth on making this a game despite the fact that this was a season of lost cause. Overall, this is a game where I am not completely mad. It's not like the Lakers are going to go on this magical run and somehow win a playoff spot, but this was a game in which a team, despite a lack of talent gave a team with a lot of talent some fits and the effort for an upset just fell short. Anyway, the Lakers are going on back-to-back sets as they face the Nuggets in Denver for Wednesday night and expect a quick recap for that. I'll see you guys later.
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