Los Angeles Clippers vs Lakers Recap 12/25

By Connor Aylward
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Updated: December 25, 2015

This one got a little close for comfort at the end for Clippers fans as a one time 28 point lead melted down to 7 thanks to poor bench play. The Clippers would come out on top in this one 94 – 84 thanks to a masterful performance from Chris Paul who ended the game with 23 points, 6 assists and 3 steals.

The first quarter started off well for the Clippers as everything seemed to be going their way, even the Lakers own Larry Nance Jr. was helping the club put up points,

It’s been a long year for the Lakers… https://t.co/Ej7RNDW9Qw

— CBS Sports NBA (@CBSSportsNBA) December 26, 2015

The Clippers were able to jump out to the early lead and win the quarter 32-22 thanks to Paul and J.J. Redick putting up a team leading 8 points, while Blake Griffin dropped in 7.

The second quarter followed suit for the red and blue as Chris Paul decided it was his time to go off! Paul had some nice handles and managed to fool some of the young Laker players with his fake passes and floaters for easy buckets. He would end the half with 17 points and 4 assists while DeAndre Jordan hit double-digit rebound pulling in 10. The Clipper bench looked good (for now), in particular Jamal Crawford who would get 10 in the half.

Paul wasn’t finished with his terrific game and carried it on into the third. Getting 4 points, 2 assists and some steals in limited minutes. A big story in this game seemed to be Head Coach Doc Rivers trimming down his rotation to find more reliable players on the bench that has struggled all season long. Josh Smith did not see the floor again tonight for Los Angeles and it looks as though he has been replaced by the rarely seen Cole Aldrich. Pablo Prigioni also got some time at the backup guard as Austin Rivers is out with an ankle injury. The Clippers replaced all of their starters with these bench players going into the fourth with a massive 28 point, 85-57 lead.

The bench choked it all away. Inconsistency, poor movement and absolutely no defense for the Clipper bench as Doc Rivers was seen with his head down while he called for the starters to enter back into the game with just over six minutes to go. The Clippers once 28 point lead had been trimmed to 11 at this point. The terrible bench play seemed to rub off on the starters some as the lead would then be cut to 7 and a big quarter from Laker rookie D’Angelo Russell helped the Lakers back into the game. The Clippers poor shot selection allowed the Lakers back into the game but eventually some of those shots started to fall and the Clippers would hold on for a close 94-84 win.

As I mentioned, poor shot selection helped the Lakers back into the game as the Clippers were chucking up threes and contested shots as the other team in Los Angeles began to chip away at their lead by driving it inside and hitting close range buckets. Doc Rivers needs to figure out what to do with this Clipper bench because 27 other teams in the association would have found a way to beat the club in this one.

Clippers will take their 17-13 record to Utah tomorrow night.

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