The Los Angeles Lakers clearly won the city derby against the struggling Clippers, securing their ticket to the knockout stage of the NBA Cup ahead of schedule. Luka Doncic once again led the team in points and assists. LeBron James also had a good night.
43 points, 13 assists, nine rebounds. Luka Doncic narrowly missed out on his second triple-double of the current season. However, given the Lakers’ latest victory, the Slovenian will be able to cope with it. In the city derby against the Clippers, they ultimately secured their fifth consecutive victory.
The visitors put up a good fight, having recently slipped further and further into crisis. Kawhi Leonard made a noticeable difference in his second game after weeks of injury. James Harden also confirmed his good form of recent weeks with 29 points and nine assists.
Despite the Lakers’ long period of dominance, the Clippers fought their way back into the game several times. The last time this happened was in the middle of the third quarter, when they turned a double-digit deficit into a narrow lead (85-84). However, a LeBron and-one put the home team back up by five before the end of the quarter.
Doncic, Reaves and LeBron score 99 of the Lakers’ 135 points
In the final quarter, however, the Clippers – the oldest team in the league – ran out of steam. The Purple and Gold won the final quarter by twelve points, pulling away decisively just a few minutes into the period (112:97). The decision.
In addition to Doncic, backcourt colleague Austin Reaves once again impressed for the Lakers with 31 points on a very efficient 11/16 shooting. The same goes for LeBron James, who finished the game with 25 points (9/15) and six rebounds and assists each.
The Lakers thus inflicted the Clippers’ first cup defeat to date, at least in the Cup. With three wins from three games, the current number 1 from Los Angeles has secured its ticket to the Cup quarterfinals ahead of schedule. This will take place on December 9 and 10. The final fourth match day of the group stage will be played later this week.