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Lakers News: Despite Late Rally, Lakers Fall To Clippers In 103-97 Heartbreaker

Anthony Davis tweaked his back in the Lakers' home opener.

Alex Kirschenbaum

Lakers News: Despite Late Rally, Lakers Fall To Clippers In 103-97 Heartbreaker
Lakers News: Despite Late Rally, Lakers Fall To Clippers In 103-97 Heartbreaker /
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As we predicted, your Los Angeles Lakers proved no match for their Crypto.com Arena neighbors, the Los Angeles Clippers, who survived a fourth quarter rally to secure a 103-97 victory tonight. To add injury to insult (see what we did there?), Anthony Davis appeared to tweak the back injury that had been bugging him since at least training camp during a hard foul in the third quarter, though he did manage to play through it.

The Clippers opted to bring their best player, Kawhi Leonard, off the bench today on a minutes limit as he continues to work his way back into fighting shape following his June 2021 ACL tear during his team's playoff run. Head coach Tyronn Lue started point guard Reggie Jackson, shooting guard Norman Powell, All-Star small forward Paul George, power forward Marcus Morris Sr., and center Ivica Zubac. Zubac, as you'll recall, was offloaded for pennies on the dollar at the 2019 deadline by much-maligned Lakers VP of basketball operations Rob Pelinka.

It was a treat to hear former Los Angeles Sparks legend Candace Parker (now with the Chicago Sky) on the horn for Turner Sports tonight, joining Kevin Harlan and Reggie Miller to provide commentary. She was always a lot of fun in the studio for TNT, it's great to hear her on the floor. Lamar Odom and Jeanie Buss were also in attendance for the Lakers' official home opener.

Before he went down, Anthony Davis looked pretty darn incredible. He got to work right away in the first quarter, scoring eight points while bodying up Zubac inside.

Anthony Davis thunder dunk off a Westbrook dish:

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Later in the period, early in the shot clock, Westbrook forced up two unnecessary triple attempts (one from a corner and one from the top of the arc) that no one, for one second, thought were going to land. Miller, currently the fourth-best three-point shooter in NBA/ABA history, noted that the entire Crypto.com crowd of Laker fans seemed to collectively hold its breath whenever Russ shot from deep.

On the Clippers side, John Wall almost looked like his blistering Washington Wizards self, playing in his first official NBA action since April 2021. He cut inside for some solid paint play, starting off 4-of-4 from the floor in the first quarter. He would finish with 15 points on 7-of-15 shooting.

A desperate Lakers team brought in 15th man Matt Ryan, with a shade over two minutes left in the period, for some floor-spreading help. It didn't do much for them.

The Clippers shot 50% from the floor in the opening period, far outpacing the Lakers' 30.8% shooting, and led 35-23 heading into the second quarter. Kawhi Leonard, by the way, did not step foot on the court at all during that first frame.

An 8-1 Laker run the Lakers close the gap to just five points to kick off the second quarter, with Leonard still on the bench. That advantage didn't last long, as the Clippers promptly scored five straight to push the Clippers back to a double-digit advantage. 

Matt Ryan, who was working in a cemetery just two seasons ago, finally nailed his first jumper of the contest in the frame, stepping in for a long two-pointer just within the arc. That seemed to get him going, as he made a triple the next time the Lakers had possession.

Speaking of triples, LeBron James shot his way into three-point lore tonight, surpassing loathed Hall of Fame Celtics small forward Paul Pierce to make the top ten in all-time NBA treys made with this shot:

Leonard finally entered the game after a 16-month injury-mandated layoff, with 6:25 minutes remaining in the half. Leonard immediately made his presence felt, grabbing a defensive rebound and sprinting to the other end for a jumper in the paint.

With the Lakers trailing 48-36, Darvin Ham called a time out to gather the troops. He subbed out a lineup of Kendrick Nunn, Beverley, Ryan, James and Damian Jones, putting in Westbrook, Walker, Austin Reaves, Juan Toscano-Anderson, and Davis. Juan Toscano-Anderson was impactful on both ends in the frame:

Those Lakers instantly went on a 12-2 run, before Ham swapped out JTA for James. Taking a page out of former Cavs teammate Kevin Love's book, James dished out a crazy outlet to AD for a flush:

Keyed by an impressive two-way effort by both those lineups, the Lakers went on an epic 20-4 run late in the game to tie things up at 56-56 entering the half. It was quite the feat, given that the Lakers trailed by as many as 16 points in the game's first 24 regulation minutes.

The game's third quarter got off to a less-than-thrilling start. Patrick Beverley, who had been so limited by his four fouls in the Warriors loss, got whistled for his third foul of the evening early in the third.

Davis fell on his back while contesting a Kawhi Leonard spin move with 9:18 remaining in the frame. Davis stayed splayed out on the hardwood for a bit while the Laker faithful anxiously rooted for him to get up, which he eventually did more or less under his own power. "Are we going to go through a whole season like this?" asked Harlan. "Yes we will," Miller said wryly. "Adrenaline will get him though this game but tomorrow morning, he's going to feel that fall."

While laboring, AD nailed a triple to help the Lakers capture their first lead, a brief 63-61 edge, since early in the first quarter. Davis found himself still struggling to move and had to be swapped out soon thereafter.

Though Davis had trouble sprinting back in transition, James went to work, helping L.A. stay in the thick of the contest:

After Davis left the game to try to loosen up, the Clippers immediately went on a 9-0 run. Davis did manage to return later on in the frame, but he seemed to lack the same physical presence or speed as he played through pain.

The Clippers led at the end of the period, 85-77. Westbrook went 0-of-9 from the floor as a shooter through three quarters. Not great, Bob.

Led by a transition-scoring, defensive-oriented lineup featuring Beverley, Walker, Reaves, Toscano-Anderson, and James at small-ball center, the Lakers showed further signs of life at the start of the fourth quarter, going on a 12-2 run.

Here was the exact moment the Lakers took a brief lead, featuring, fittingly enough, a defense-into-transition offense sequence:

Walker and Toscano-Anderson especially proved helpful as two-way bad-asses tonight. Darvin Ham just might have uncovered something with lineups featuring these two, James, another shooter or playmaker (so Beverley, Nunn or Reaves) and, when healthy, Davis.

After a timeout, Ty Lue finally brought Kawhi Leonard back into the fold for the game's home stretch. Unfortunately, Ham also brought Russell Westbrook back into the game late for some reason. At least Westbrook looked engaged defensively, snagging two crucial steals against Kawhi Leonard and compelling a travel from the two-time Finals MVP late in the action. But he also was up to his old tricks pretty quickly on offense with some miserable jumpers, and his status as a non-shooter allowed the Clippers to sag way off him and pack the paint.

As the Clippers started to pull away late, the Lakers kept forcing up bad triples for some reason. Ham eventually brought Reaves in for Westbrook with 1:04 remaining and the Lakers trailing the Clippers by just four points. Brodie would finish the night with more steals (five), assists (four) or rebounds (three) than points (two, both made via free throws -- he shot 0-for-11 from the floor).

The Clippers held on long enough to snag the victory. The Clips have won 33 of their last 40 matchups against the Lakers, per the TNT broadcast.

James finished with a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double, while Davis had 25 points and eight rebounds of his own. Lonnie Walker led all Lakers with 26 points on 9-of-21 shooting. The team's starting backcourt (for now) of Beverley and Westbrook went a combined 1-for-18 from the field tonight.

The Clippers had a more balanced attack, with six players scoring in double figures. George had a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double, while Zubac showed the Lakers what they've been missing with a 14-point, 17-rebound double-double of his own. In Leonard's first game back, he put up 14 points on an efficient 6-of-12 shooting night, and pulled down seven rebounds, dished out two assists, and grabbed a steal.

James played for 36:34 minutes tonight, and 35:12 minutes against the Warriors. We know how this story ends for a guy LBJ's age. Unfortunately for the Lakers, they don't really have much else if James and Davis aren't on the floor.

Perhaps most crucially, the Lakers had another miserable long range night. They converted just nine of their 45 three-point attempts. Zooming out, the Lakers shot just 35.1% from the floor overall, far below the Clippers' 46.3% mark.

With the loss, the Lakers have fallen to 0-2 on the young season. Their next chance for a win comes in the form of a matinee against the Trail Blazers Sunday.

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Alex Kirschenbaum
ALEX KIRSCHENBAUM

Basketball is Alex's favorite sport, he likes the way they dribble up and down the court.

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