We had slipped two words yesterday right here, this Los Angeles derby was not necessarily the one we expected a few weeks / months ago. Two mid-table teams, for different reasons, and no offense but players like Malik Monk, Nicolas Batum, Stanley Johnson or Luke Kennard almost headliners for this match. Sometimes we laugh, but sometimes it’s refreshing and last night the Clippers and the Lakers offered us a superb match, original but superb.
The house stats of this crazy match are right here!
We almost want to switch directly on this last minute but out of respect we are still going to talk a little bit regarding the match, but really a little bit. So imagine that the ghost Anthony Davis dominated the Clippers racket in attack, deprived of Ivica Zubac even if we don’t care, but above all imagine that in 2022 these gentlemen Serge Ibaka and Marcus Morris Sr. position themselves with the trade deadline in mind are still able to hold him high on the other side of the field. A duo of interiors who do the job for the Clippers, Reggie Jackson who plays the bosses very well and the squad of Tyronn Lue who is racing in the lead, tearing their guts out, as usual this season. Opposite Russell Westbrook has big veins but is not in luck, AD stays the course and Dwight Howard adds a little hustle, but the Clippers collective seems more successful than that of their hated neighbors, LeBron James is terribly missed by his team, no joke, quite logical following all in view of the last few weeks.
Cool, so we come to the end of the match, we told you it would be short.
Led by twelve points at the start of the last quarter, the Lakers then get their fingers out of the … trap. Austin Reaves is too cute and he dunks in traffic, Russell Westbrook starts playing fair and stacks three consecutive shots and the yellows are back in the game, while the Clippers opposite seem anesthetized. Brandon Boston got the wrong city, Isaiah Hartenstein got the wrong sport but fortunately the starters’ return is good even if Nico Batum prefers to focus on defense tonight – it’s rare enough to be reported – from clumsiness. The Reggie / Serge / Marcus trio has a name of Paw Patrol soldiers but restores a little interest to the match, opposite Anthony Davis returns and it finally feels good it seems, three minutes from the end the Sailboats are setting sail, haha, and have a seven-pawn lead. Money time we arrive.
It’s snowing outside and maybe it’s because Russell Westbrook plants a shot from the parking lot, Malik Monk fails from close range but rips off his rebound and lands a huge one and one, the Brodie continues at half distance, Reggie Jackson tries to kill the game but Malik Man slams a big 3-pointer and the Lakers lead by two small points 30 seconds from the end, it’s hot here. The following ? Madness. Time-out Clippers, Marcus Morris flops in the corner, 109-108 Clippers, Lakers timeout. Russell Westbrook sends Anthony Davis in the air, nice a well-executed system by playing on the strong points, it’s stupid but it’s not often, 110-109 Lakers… no more time-outs, that’s nice too. Reggie Jackson then takes advantage of a defense not tip-top in place to go and place a lay-up sooooo clutch, 111-110 Clippers, still no time-out we said, and Anthony Davis sends a prayer to the buzzer… clang, missed, Clippers victory following a crazy crazy crazy money time.
The Lakers do not go far but once once more the Clippers prove that their resources are crazy. Clippers who take a 1.5 game lead in the standings over… the Lakers, in an unforeseen fight for play-in places, and if a good part of the superstars once expected in Los Angeles watched the game on their I- Pad… we enjoyed ourselves and that’s what counts. Come on, highlights, apple turnover and we continue.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk4ebpD2MuA
