The Los Angeles Lakers hosted the Los Angeles Clippers last night in an intriguing Battle of LA, but the star-studded Lakers failed to assert any form of dominance in the game.
The Clippers, who are without Kawhi Leonard, have struggled so far this season by coming into the game with an 11-11 record. For a team that reached the 2021 NBA Western Conference Finals, they have been unimpressive.
Tyronn Lue is 4-0 as Clippers head coach against the Lakers.
Here are the largest Lakers leads in those games
Tonight: 0
May 2021: 2
Easter 2021: 0
Ring Night 2020: 0
— Law Murray ❓ (@LawMurrayTheNU) December 4, 2021
Meanwhile, they led the game from tip-off, maintaining a record that head coach Tyronn Lue has held since he became the official head coach in 2020. In the four games, he has led, the Lakers are 0-4.
The Lakers led only once in all four meetings, going 2-0 in May 2021 after tip-off. In that matchup, they lost with a 24 points differential.
Last night, the Lakers were dominated from the first whistle, but they managed to keep the game close. Unfortunately, they were unable to tie or get the go-ahead bucket despite having numerous chances in the fourth quarter.
Lue and LeBron James spent some time together with the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2014-2018. In his first year as head coach, he led the Cavs to a record-breaking Finals run as they overcame a 3-1 deficit over the 73-9 Golden State Warriors. He has also played with and coached some of the greatest players in NBA history.
The 44-year-old has been a head coach for six years and has a win-loss percentage of .611. He has won 238 of 386 games as a head coach in both the regular season and playoffs.
Lue is undoubtedly a great coach and has drawn praise from the Lakers players despite their loss, including Anthony Davis and LeBron James. It is worth noting that he led the Clippers to their first conference finals appearance in franchise history.
While he has been impressive so far, he still has a long way to go in helping the Clippers contend for a championship. It is an arduous task, more so without Kawhi Leonard. But first, he would have to overcome the Sacramento Kings on December 4.
