The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Los Angeles Lakers in a matchup with huge implications for the 2023 playoff race.
The game ended 118-125 in the Clippers’ favor, their 11th consecutive win over the Lakers in a winning streak stretching back to 2020. Ty Lue has never lost a game to the Lakers as head coach of the Clippers.
The Lakers got out to a rough start, trailing by nearly 20 points at the end of the first half. A strong third quarter saw them cut the deficit down to single digits before a fourth-quarter run sparked by Bones Hyland saw the Lakers trail by as many as 24 points. They made another comeback, cutting the lead to 7 points before losing.
LeBron James led the Lakers in scoring with 33 points after a slow start. Anthony Davis was disappointing with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Norman Powell was the star for the Clippers with 27 points off the bench but Russell Westbrook had a nice outing in his revenge game with 14 points. Kawhi Leonard had 25 points and played 42 minutes.
Can The Lakers Still Qualify Top 6?
Avoiding the play-in tournament is something the Lakers aimed for when they made the trades to acquire D’Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt, Malik Beasley, and Mo Bamba. This loss puts a major dent in that, dropping them one game behind the 6th-seeded Warriors and the 5th-seeded Clippers.
Unless the Clippers lose both their remaining games and the Lakers win both of theirs, they cannot jump them in the standings. Meanwhile, the Lakers own the tiebreaker over the Warriors, so they need to win their remaining games to ensure that the Lakers can’t jump them.
The Clippers face Portland and Phoenix in their last 2 games, possibly facing the Suns at a point they bench Devin Booker and Kevin Durant to prepare for the postseason. The Warriors have a tricky matchup with Sacramento next, where a loss may hurt them deeply. They end their season against Portland.
The Lakers face Phoenix and then rematch with Utah, two tricky games. Either way, the Lakers have to win every single remaining game on their schedule while hoping the Clippers lose both or the Warriors lose one to secure the 6th seed.
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