Clippers Close Out Lakers 113-105

By Connor Aylward
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Updated: March 4, 2019

The Los Angeles Clippers and Lakers squared off for the third time this season on Monday night, with each team winning one of their games so far. With playoff seedings on the line the two teams didn’t disappoint in bringing some drama to the Staples Center.

Right away the differing personalities of the squads came to the forefront.

The Lakers relied heavily on the veteran duo of LeBron James and Rajon Rondo to get things going early. For Rondo things clicked from long range instantly, knocking in 3 of 5 three pointers in the opening quarter but he changed up his game as the night wore on. The 33 year-old guard wound up with a triple-double notching 24 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds.

James struggled starting things off due to the peskiness of Patrick Beverley guarding him. Despite being 7 inches shorter than James, Beverley and the Clippers defense gave the future hall of famers fits in the opening quarter. Beverley revels in that bulldog role and he excelled in it again in this one. Beverley finished up his night with a season-high 5 steals. James did manage to have more success throughout the game closing it out with 27 points, 6 assists and 8 rebounds.

It’s not the size of the dog in the fight…@patbev21 | #ClipperNation pic.twitter.com/sWhtHmRVRj

— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) March 5, 2019

The Clippers needed a scoring punch to fend off the determined Lakers and they got it from Danilo Gallinari and Lou Williams. Gallinari was draining threes consistently, hitting 3 of 5 and finishing with 23 points and 6 rebounds. Williams on the other hand struggled from distance hitting no threes on 4 attempts but he found other ways to get the ball in the hoop, notching 21 points and 5 assists on the night.

A strong fourth quarter helped the Clippers pull away and finish this one off with a 113-105 victory as the boos rained down from the home Lakers crowd.

This loss puts the Lakers playoff hopes in serious jeopardy as they now are 5.5 games out of that final playoff spot. The win for the Clippers on the other hand puts them a half game out of the sixth seed.

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