Welcome in to the full recap of the Lakers' hallway matchup with the Clippers where the Lakers weathered their 4th quarter woes in blowing big leads as they hold on to beat the Clippers 102-111.
As usual, I would like to start off by saying Merry Christmas to the Laker Nation. I hope you guys had a good time with your family and unwrapping gifts under the tree while enjoying some NBA games. Now onto this game, I've seen it live on why this has been such a down month for the Lakers. Don't get me wrong, I'll take the win, but they gotta take that next step in protecting a big lead. This team is young and yes, this is part of the growing pains. But, I loved the effort in the first three quarters, especially the third quarter. The Lakers took it to the Clippers and that was probably their best output in this month on both ends of the floor. What matters the most is that the Lakers snapped a 3-game losing streak on Christmas Day and reminded the Clippers that L.A. is, was, and always will be Laker town.
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Timofey Mozgov, 19 points, 8-11 shooting. I'd have to recheck, this must be Mozgov's best game of the season offensively. He had the shooting touch. Most of his shots were mid-range jumpers this game and I can hear nothing but the sound of the net splashing whenever he took those shots. DeAndre Jordan was daring him so shoot and he kept knocking them down. Way to go Mozzy.
Luol Deng, 13 points, 12 rebounds. I gotta say, Deng is playing a little better during this month. He has a knack for going off and then disappearing in the next game, but his performance is getting much better. This game was one example. Deng mustered some solid offense, but he was a beast on the boards. He managed to take full advantage of the Clippers not having Blake Griffin and kept a lot of possessions alive for the Lakers. 5 of his rebounds were on the offensive side and he lead the team in that category tonight.
Nick Young, 19 points, 6-9 shooting. Nick Young continues to play with a chip on his shoulder on both sides of the ball. 5-7 from beyond the arc and most of the three pointers he took were timely buckets that the Lakers needed. The Clippers were making a run, Swaggy P hits a three. Another run, another three to provide much needed cushion. He played a solid game on this win.
Julius Randle, 13 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists. Congrats on the new baby big man! Every game, Randle has shown he can be a double-double machine, sometimes a triple-double machine. The defensive deficiencies are still there that make Randle a liability, but he was aggressive when needed to be and he's making the offense stagnant. It's unbelievable he didn't commit a single turnover this game! This is a Clippers team that has a knack for generating turnovers defensively. We need more games like these where Randle plays with more control of the ball.
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Bench play. The 2nd unit has been good all season long, but I'd say this was one of their subpar games. Lou Williams had 14 points and Brandon Ingram with 10 points, but this unit allowed the Clippers to get back into the game after the starters put up a clinic. The offense of the 2nd unit was stagnant throughout the 4th quarter. They were missing shots and tried to be a little fancy with the ball movement. The unit as a whole accounted for 8 of the teams' 13 turnovers. Clarkson had an off game with 5 points on 2-9 shooting. Of course, Larry Nance, Jr. is out for a couple of weeks so the team is going to have to rely on Thomas Robinson to step up. It wasn't the best performance from the bench, but the silver lining, they did enough in critical moments as the starters got back into the game to finish it off.
MVP
Like I said, he's playing better and this was possibly his best game as a Laker. He was doing it on both ends on the floor and grabbed key offensive rebounds to give the Lakers 2nd chances against this Clippers team.
Conclusion
Certainly, this was a month to forget about as the Lakers just kept losing game after game. Most of the games, they were up big and they blow it eventually in the 2nd half. But, this win on Christmas Day is like a breath of fresh air. This is all part of the process in the development of this young team. They'll eventually figure out to put the game out of reach when they build up a humongous lead like tonight when they put up 34 points in the 3rd quarter and lead as many as 15 points. This was certainly a bounce back game that the Lakers needed in order to regain their swagger and confidence back that they could compete with anyone. It's a process, we have to remind ourselves that. The wins will come and will boost the growth of this team. Trust the process. Merry Christmas guys and I'll see you guys on the next nationally televised game.
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