LeBron James has 26 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, and his new teammate looks on approvingly throughout a 122-97 victory as the Lakers win for the seventh time in eight games and move 10 …
Lakers star LeBron James drives as Clippers star Kawhi Leonard defends during the second half on Tuesday night at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood. INGLEWOOD — Three days after losing one of their best players in a trade, the Lakers played as though nothing had changed.
who was sent to the Dallas Mavericks as part of the stunning trade that brought Luka Doncic to the Lakers They played as though they didn’t lose two starters in what some have deemed the biggest trade in NBA history. Instead, the Lakers looked like a team confident in moving forward without Davis and guard Max Christie, who was included in the deal for Doncic, and ran over the Clippers, 122-97, on Tuesday night in the latest edition of their crosstown rivalry at the Intuit Dome. The Lakers played their first game since Saturday night’s trade as if they had something to prove not only to themselves but the rest of the league. While Davis’ presence will be missed, the Lakers proved they can still dominate teams, and they fought and worked on defense in a way they will likely need to without him. The Clippers learned all of that the hard way as the Lakers finished off their Grammy trip with a 5-1 record. Lakers star LeBron James said it was important to put aside any emotions stemming from the trade before facing the Clippers. “Because there’s a job at hand still at the end of the day,” James said. “I got to make sure that these guys are ready to go versus a damn good Clippers team. Super well-coached, great players. “We wanted to end this road trip off the right way and going 5-1 on a six-game road trip is very challenging and then to end it having to come from New York, a six-hour flight a couple days ago to come here and win this game, it was big-time for us.” With Doncic watching approvingly from the bench, James had a game-high 26 points, eight rebounds and nine assists to lead the Lakers to their seventh victory in the past eight games. James and Doncic,Forward Rui Hachimura picked up the scoring slack left by Davis, posting 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting and grabbing six rebounds. Point guard Austin Reaves added 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting, including three 3-pointers. The Clippers’ second-ranked defense was helpless against the Lakers’ attack, especially inside, where they gave up 46 points. And the Clippers’ offense wasn’t any better. The Lakers outshot their city rivals 54.9% to 37.8% and shot 48.6% from 3-point range . “I thought defensively it was about as connected as we’ve been all season and our execution level was very high,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “And then offensively again just continue to build out some of the intentional tactical stuff and we’ve been really sharp with that over the past 10-14 days.” Speaking before the game, Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said he thought both the Lakers and Mavericks got better after exchanging their star players. “A.D. is a hell of a player on both sides of the basketball. And Luka is a hell of a player who’s given me nightmares in the playoffs for a long time. They’re both great players,” Lue said. Lue had to be happy Doncic wasn’t on the court for this game. The outcome might have been worse and so would have been his mood. The Lakers dominated the Clippers from start to finish, leading by as many as 31 points, controlling the paint and limiting James Harden to seven points and Ivica Zubac to eight points and 10 rebounds. Norman Powell led the Clippers with 20 points and Derrick Jones Jr. added 17. The Clippers have not played well in their past three games, including the lopsided loss to the Lakers.“We’re all in agreement on what we need to do, and they understand what we need to do,” Lue added. “We’ve been doing it all year long and so if we don’t play hard, we don’t have a chance. Our margin for error is slim.” A technical foul called on Redick, who argued extensively about a call, with 8:23 left in the third quarter gave the Clippers a momentary lift. They scored seven consecutive points to trim the Lakers’ lead to 79-66 at the 7:21 mark. But 33 seconds later, the Lakers had pushed their lead back to 20 points, deflating the Clippers’ hopes of turning the game around. “It was really just a complete game for us on both sides,” Redick said. “Challenged the guys to have the same spirit in the second half knowing they’d make a run. Made their run, and we responded. And just fantastic basketball on both ends of the floor for us tonight.”The Lakers led by as many as 24 in the first half, turned the ball over just four times in the first 24 minutes and shot 60.9% from the field and 57.9% from 3-point range. The Clippers couldn’t match the Lakers’ intensity and struggled at every turn. They shot 39.1% from the field and failed to get inside for easy layups. Kawhi Leonard finished with 11 points, six rebounds and two assists in 22 minutes, sitting out the fourth quarter of the blowout loss.Lue had hoped to see more progress from Leonard in his 12th game of the season, giving him reason to extend his minutes. Leonard has been restricted to 24 minutes per game since returning to the lineup last month because of issues with his surgically repaired knee. “Kawhi’s not Kawhi yet. He’s on limited minutes. And so, if we don’t do what we’ve been doing all year, it’s going to be a long season for us,” Lue said. “We got to play harder every night. We got to compete every single night to be in these games and if we don’t, we can get beat by anybody.”, both acquired in a trade with the Utah Jazz on Saturday, saw action in the final six minutes of the game.1,000-plus demonstrators resume immigration protests in downtown LA, Santa Ana1 person arrested, 7 officers injured during immigration protests in Los Angeles, officials say Thousands protest against Trump’s deportation plans in Los Angeles, Riverside, Garden Grove; freeway lanes blockedTexas-style barbecue joint Cork & Batter Roadhouse opens in Simi Valley Gabriel Fernandez, 8, was tortured to death. His mother didn’t like her life sentence. This is what a judge had to say. Gabriel Fernandez, 8, was tortured to death. His mother didn’t like her life sentence. This is what a judge had to say.
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