LOS ANGELES — Even with the two teams as far apart in the standings as they were, and the direction of their seasons going in opposite directions entering their matchup, the Lakers and Clippers looked like equals on Sunday.
The Clippers led for most of the game, but the Lakers had the game's largest lead, when they were up 94-84 at 8:19 in the fourth quarter. The Clippers used a 9-0 run to stay in the game, which was within a four-point deficit for nearly the final seven minutes.
Ultimately, the Lakers (18-19) beat the Clippers (22-13) 106-103 at Crypto.com Arena, ending their losing streak at four games and the Clippers' winning streak at five after Norman Powell's potential game-tying 3-pointer before the buzzer rimmed out.
"It's tough to get wins in this league," Anthony Davis said. "Obviously, we were on a four-game losing streak, so to get back in the win column is huge for us."
The Lakers were led by LeBron James' 25 points, eight rebounds and seven assists and Davis' 22 points, 10 rebounds and three steals for their first win of 2024 and this five-game homestand, also getting key contributions from their bench in their second consecutive victory over the Clippers after losing the previous 11 consecutive matchups.
"We missed some shots," said Clippers coach Ty Lue, whose team shot 39.6% from the field (36 of 91) and had 16 turnovers. "We were hesitant on a couple shots and we just didn't play a good offensive game. I told our guys at halftime it was a bad flow to the game offensively. Our defense was pretty good, but offensively we couldn't get in the flow."
With the matchup being a one-point game for most of a significant portion of a 3½-minute stretch of the fourth, the Lakers ran an Austin Reaves-Davis pick-and-roll that opened up the pocket pass and midrange jumper for Davis, who knocked down the shot to put the Lakers up 98-95 with 2:47 remaining.
On the ensuing possession, Ivica Zubac (22 points and 19 rebounds), who dominated the offensive glass all night (10 offensive boards) grabbed a Terance Mann before kicking out to Powell, who was fouled by Taurean Prince on a 3-point attempt. Powell made all three free throws, making it 98-all at 2:19.
"Zu can dominate any night he wants to," Paul George said. "He's got the size, the strength, he can dominate any night he wants to and he's been doing so. [Sunday] doesn't show how well he's been playing through this stretch. He's been doing it on a nightly basis and I thought it was a great test and matchup for him always against AD."
Prince has his redemption a minute later, knocking down an open above-the-break 3 off a kick out from James in the post to give the Lakers a 101-98 advantage with 1:17 left.
"LeBron was posting up. And all game, they go from the nail – the nail guy instead of the guy who is right in front of the guy who is posting up," Prince said. 'And all game we've just been rotating and swinging the ball and having that shot. This time, instead of the corner, it was the middle of the floor. So I was just prepared for it. And I let it go."
After James Harden (15 points, nine assists) missed a midrange shot, the Lakers went to the James-Davis pick-and-roll, with James hitting a floater to put the Lakers up 103-98 with 42 seconds left. After the Clippers used up nearly all 24 seconds of the shot clock, Harden hit a stepback 3 to reduce their deficit to 103-101 with 22.9 seconds remaining.
With the Clippers fouling late, Prince (13 points, 3 of 6 on 3-pointers) made a pair of free throws to put the Lakers back up by four (105-101) with 12 seconds left before Zubac made a hook shot seven seconds later to cut the deficit back to two.
Reaves (eight points) made one of two free throws after the Clippers were forced to foul, putting the Lakers up by three before Powell missed the shot before the buzzer.
"It looked like it was good, for sure," James said. "It was right on line. It was just a tad bit short. It hit the rim before it went through the net. I definitely thought it was overtime again."
George had 22 points, five steals, four rebounds and three assists. Kawhi Leonard had an uncharacteristic shooting game, scoring 15 points on 6-of-17 shooting. He sat from the 2:47 mark in the fourth until there were 17 seconds left in the game. Lue said Leonard was on a minute restriction in light of the Clippers playing on the first night of a back-to-back, with the Clippers hosting the Phoenix Suns on Monday.
D'Angelo Russell (13 points, six assists), who made his return on Sunday after missing three games, Christian Wood (nine points, 10 rebounds) and Max Christie (seven points, three rebounds, two blocks) all made significant plays to keep the Lakers in the game.
"It takes the others to win championships and win basketball games," Davis said. "And these guys played phenomenal today, tonight. And when these guys are playing well, it just makes me and Bron drop a lot easier. Obviously we have ultimate trust in these guys and throwing the basketball to make shots and take big shots. Like I said, when they're playing well, the floor just opens up for us."
The Lakers will look for their first set of back-to-back wins when they host the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday.
"We gotta continue to get better," James said. "Try to use this to try to catapult a little bit better play from us. But it still doesn't take away from the fact of how we've been playing like the last 11, 12 games. [Sunday] was a good start. Hopefully, we can start from here and continue to build."
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