In a back-and-forth game, the Los Angeles Lakers ultimately fell short after Reggie Jackson hit a game-winner to give the L.A. Clippers a 111-110 win.
The big men for each team were featured early as Anthony Davis and Serge Ibaka each scored four points apiece. As was the case the night before, the Lakers committed unnecessary turnovers that the Clippers used to take an 11-7 lead thanks to a Marcus Morris three.
Los Angeles’ offensive perked up as they did a better job of getting into the paint and scoring at the rim, taking a 19-17 lead after a Malik Monk lob to Davis. The bench units did well to keep pace with each other, but the Lakers would go into the second trailing 28-26.
Carmelo Anthony and Austin Reaves were able to knock down a pair of 3-pointers to briefly put the Lakers ahead before Eric Bledsoe responded by converting on an and-one opportunity. Defensively the Lakers did well rotating and contesting shots, though they had trouble tracking Luke Kennard who had his stroke going from outside.
Monk found Davis several times for easy looks in the paint and later drained his first triple of the night, but Anthony came up hobbling after a play and went straight to the locker room with what appeared to be a right hamstring injury.
Davis knocked down a technical free throw and threw down a putback slam but a Reggie Jackson 3-pointer had the Lakers down 59-54 at halftime.
It was a tough start defensively for the Lakers because they had trouble containing the Clippers’ frontcourt after switching actions, though Monk saw success attacking the teeth of their defense for tough finishes. Jackson started to get going, draining a couple of threes to widen the deficit to 12.
The Lakers simply could not get anything to go down against the Clipper defense as they fell behind by as many as 17. Davis and Monk worked hard to carry the Lakers out of their hole, but they still found themselves looking at a 94-82 deficit.
Austin Reaves gave the Lakers a jolt of energy with a transition dunk, and a quick 6-0 spurt from Russell Westbrook brought them within four. Reaves was able to force a shot clock violation after blocking Kennard, and Davis followed up with a putback dunk to make it a two-point game.
Morris picked up where he left off, nailing a tough midrange jumper while an acrobatic finish from Jackson forced the Lakers into a seven-point deficit. The game ultimately came down to the wire with both teams trading baskets, but Davis’ runner to win the game rimmed out and the Lakers would take home a brutal loss.
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