What's up Laker Nation! Finally, the NBA is back after a four month hiatus. After a triplet of scrimmage games, we finally get to the real stuff. This was an incredible way to reopen up the 2019-20 season. You had the Jazz and Pelicans earlier go down to the wire. But, this game took it to another level. The Lakers and Clippers meeting in the Western Conference Finals seems inevitable. And in round 4, the Lakers came up clutch to tie this season series at 2-2.
If the Lakers meet this Clippers team in the playoffs, you can bet it's going to be a dogfight in 7-game series. And this game and the previous three meeting prove that. In the first quarter, the Lakers dominated, giving the ball inside to Anthony Davis. If anything, AD single-handily carried the offense this game. He struggled from the field, but he was getting to the line, exploiting the Clippers interior D with his height, and drawing contact. He lead all Lakers in scoring with 34 points.
But, this Clipper team won't go down easily. They stormed back in the 2nd and 3rd quarters of the game. We gotta respect the depth that this Clippers team has. They didn't have Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell, their primary bench scorers, but they still fell short by two. They committed 18 turnovers this game, but they still fell short by two. They shot better at 40% from the field when the Lakers only shot 30% from the field. These are the side notes that pretty much mar this big win in the restart. The Lakers barely squeaked by without two of the Clippers' best bench players playing. That's one of my biggest concerns if the Lakers meet the Clippers at full strength in a 7-game series.
Other than that, I was impressed with how this team finished in this game. AD hit two big threes to shake off what was an ugly 3rd quarter for the Lakers. But by the 4th quarter, the three ball got going for the purple and gold courtesy of Dion Waiters, Kyle Kuzma, and Danny Green. Kuz and Waiters had a solid game tonight off the bench with 16 points and 11 points respectively. Alex Caruso and LeBron James had some key defensive stops in that 4th quarter. The Carushow got off to a really slow start. He struggled from the free throw line and from beyond the arc. But in the 2nd half, he made some key buckets and made a nice defensive play and save down the stretch. As for LeBron, he was pretty quiet this game offensively. But the King took over in the 4th and made the game winning shot and the game saving defense on Kawhi and PG. That was a statement sequence from LeBron. We may rarely see 30+ point games from him at 35, but he can still check a team's best player(s) and hang with the rest of them.
Overall, great win after four months of no basketball. This Clipper team will be handful come playoff time. Pretty much after this game, the Lakers need to just win two more games out of this 8-game stretch to lock up the #1 seed and Pacific Division title. But, we know this team. They'll stay locked in and take care of business en route to the playoffs. The defending champion Raptors are next. I'll see you guys after that game.
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