The Lakers hosted the Clippers in the second half of the televised double-header on Thursday, and with the first game between the Thunder and the Heat running a little long, almost five minutes had gone by in the first quarter in Los Angeles before the national audience saw any of it.
By the time TNT joined the game in progress, it was already over.
The Clippers were up 10-0 when the game’s broadcast went live, and it only got worse from there for the Lakers. The Clips scored 15 points before the Lakers registered their first, and the game was never in doubt as the Clippers beat their Staples Center roommates for the third time this season, this time by a final of 125-101.
Blake Griffin was the catalyst early, scoring 18 first-quarter points by himself when the Lakers as a team managed just 17. With only Dwight Howard available to put up any kind of fight defensively inside, the way the Clippers found Griffin with good passes or ball movement gave him consistent open looks that were too good to pass up.
Griffin was 7-8 from the field down low to start the game, while knocking down two uncontested outside jumpers to account for the rest of his field goals in the period. All of this went down as the Lakers struggled to find a rhythm offensively, and as a team missed several wide-open looks.
The Lakers briefly closed the gap in the second, opening the period with a 12-3 run behind eight points from Antawn Jamison. After a three from Jamison once again had the deficit at just three points with 2:34 remaining in the half, the Clippers put up a blistering 14 points to end the period, thanks to an eight-point spurt from Chauncey Billups, and three-pointers from Chris Paul and Matt Barnes that quickly put the Clippers back up by double digits.
It was a demoralizing end to the half for the Lakers after they had battled back into it, and that carried over into the third quarter where the Clippers essentially sealed the game with their shooting from three-point distance.
The first three shots the Clippers knocked down in the third were open looks from three; Caron Butler hit one, followed by two straight from Chauncey Billups on consecutive possessions. The Clipper lead was back up to 19 points less than two minutes into the second half, and quite honestly, the rest of the game played out as extended garbage time.
The Clippers finished 16-30 from three-point distance, but this is the devastation that they can bring when you let Griffin get going inside early. More than anything, this was a product of the Lakers’ defense, where the rotations have been suspect all season long, and are even more glaring now as the team plays with an injury-depleted roster.
Paul led the way with 24 points and 13 assists, while an efficient night from Kobe Bryant (20 points on 11-13 shooting, five rebounds, 11 assists) had no impact on the rest of his teammates.
This game was a fine example of all that is wrong with the Lakers, while at the same time showcasing why the Clippers may be very dangerous once the postseason begins.
