Lakers lose big to the Clippers as Anthony Davis exits early.
With the regular season narrowing down, the Lakers room for error is getting slimmer and slimmer with each game they play as both the play-in and injuries loom them. In tonight’s 118–94 loss over the rival Clippers, the Lakers suffered another devastating injury from big man Anthony Davis, leaving to the locker room after colliding with a scoring table. With tonight’s loss, the Lakers season record drops to 37–29, tying them with the Trail Blazers, who they are scheduled to face tomorrow night.
The Clippers are the number one ranked shooting team in the entire NBA and tonight they showed why, hitting 41.9% of their shots from deep, going 13 for 41. The Clippers also hit a staggering 53.2% of their total shots from the field going 41 for 77 despite committing a game-high 22 turnovers to the Lakers 10. Clippers Paul George led the way for the squad, scoring a team game-high 24 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists on 8 of 12 (66.6%) shooting from the field and 3 for 5 from the perimeter.
Head coach Frank Vogel spoke on the Lakers defense tonight against the three-ball saying “It got better in the second half, but they shot the heck out of the ball in the first half. They hit 11 threes (in the first half), we got too much into our rotation. They're the best three-point shooting team in the league and we didn't get that under control in the first half.”
During the 2nd quarter of tonight’s loss, Anthony Davis looked to injure his ankle after colliding into a scorers table after a missed three. After the game, Davis spoke on the injury explaining how vital the next games are for the Lakers saying tomorrow’s game is the biggest game: “The ankle is fine, I’ll wake up and test it out, but the plan is for me to go tomorrow. My plan is to go tomorrow (Vs. Portland).” Before leaving the game, Davis finished the night with 4 points on 4 of 9 (44.4%) shooting from the field.
With the plethora of injured players out of the Lakers and the unfortunate circumstance of AD, they looked to their role players tonight to try and get it done. Kyle Kuzma scored a game-high 25 points in tonight’s loss, one of only two Lakers to score in double figures. In 31 minutes of action, Kuzma finished with 25 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists on 9 of 19 (47.3%) shooting from the field. Kuzma had a tough night trying to stay consistent from deep, going 3 for 10 (30%) from the arc. Kuzma spoke on the injuries the Lakers have dealt with this season, saying “I don’t know if we got juju issues around here or what. Every game it’s something.”
The only other Laker to score in double-figures tonight was Montrezl Harrell. In Harrell’s 19 minutes of game time, he scored 14 points and added 6 rebounds and 4 assists, shooting 4 for 9 (44.4%) total.
With the Lakers being tied with the Trail Blazers, tomorrow’s matchup is the biggest one of the remaining 6 games left in the season. The season series is tied between both teams and a win for the Lakers tomorrow could be huge to settle a possible tie break at the end of the regular season. The Blazers are currently 4–1 in their last five games and will look to take advantage of an out-numbered Lakers team tomorrow.