Clippers Vs Lakers: Luka Doncic scores 38 and the Lakers hold off the Clippers 125-122 (clippers vs lakers)
In a Friday night meeting of Los Angeles rivals, clippers vs lakers ended 125-122 as Luka Doncic scored 38 points and added 11 assists while Austin Reaves contributed 29. The Lakers held off a late push by the Clippers to split the four-game season series.
Early scoring burst
The game opened with Brook Lopez on a personal 5-0 run for the Clippers while Austin Reaves scored the Lakers' first five points. The Lakers' offense surged early, at one point shooting 80 percent from the field and making 16 of 17 shots in a stretch. LeBron James added a quick seven points, and at the 6: 18 mark the purple and gold were up by three. Luka Dončić drained two 3-pointers in that span; Lopez led the Clippers with nine points and, after a Lakers timeout, Luke Kennard knocked down a 3. The Lakers closed the first up by 12.
Clippers Vs Lakers late stretch
The Lakers built a 15-point lead in the second half but then allowed a rally that cut the margin. A third-quarter 10-2 run had put Los Angeles in control, and the Lakers went into the fourth up by four, but the Clippers outscored them by three in the fourth. Jarred Vanderbilt opened the final frame with a dunk for the Lakers; three foul calls early on led to stoppages, and the Clippers tied the game at the 9: 50 mark before Reaves drained a 3 to put his team back in front.
Key player lines
Luka Doncic finished with 38 points and 11 assists. Austin Reaves added 29 points. LeBron James had 13 points and 11 assists in his return from the All-Star break. Kawhi Leonard scored 31 points for the Clippers before missing the final 5: 10 with an apparent ankle injury. Bennedict Mathurin had 26 points and seven rebounds in his second straight standout game for his new team before fouling out with 1: 49 to play; he was acquired from Indiana for center Ivica Zubac and had dropped a career-high-tying 38 against Denver on Thursday.
Turning points and injuries
Doncic returned to action after a four-game absence and a five-minute All-Star Game appearance while nursing a mildly strained hamstring; he scored 17 points with four 3-pointers in a dynamic first quarter. Kawhi Leonard, who had just one bucket in the first, answered with a 19-point second. John Collins was helped off the court with 18 seconds left in the first half after he bloodied his face on a hard landing while trying to catch a long pass at the rim. Leonard left with the ankle issue in the fourth, and the Clippers finished the night 27-29, coming up short in their bid to get back to. 500 after a 6-21 start to the season.
Closing sequence and aftermath
Derrick Jones Jr. scored on consecutive possessions to trim the Lakers' lead to 123-120 with 46 seconds left. Nicolas Batum then stole a LeBron James pass in the final seconds, but the Frenchman missed a tying 3-point attempt with 4 seconds left. The late possessions sealed the 125-122 final. The Lakers' trio of Doncic, James and Reaves were able to play together for only the 11th time in the Lakers' 55 games this season, a rare moment of full health coming out of the break. The Clippers' second-chance points edge — 14-2 at one stage — and a 17-1 scoring run that briefly put them ahead by two were not enough to change the final outcome.
The Lakers' comeback that included a four-of-four 3-point stretch by Doncic in the first and a prolific offensive night overall allowed them to hold off the Clippers and split the season series 2-2 with a 125-122 victory.
