Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers set to square off for the first of four times this season
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Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves shooting a three-point basket in the second half against the Brooklyn Nets at Crypto.com Arena.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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LOS ANGELES – Once the home city of the Los Angeles Lakers for 32 seasons and six National Basketball Association championships, the team return to Inglewood, California, on Jan 19 (Jan 20, Singapore time), this time as the visitors.
The Lakers will travel down the freeway to the new home of the Los Angeles Clippers, who built a US$2 billion (S$2.74 billion) venue less than 2km away from The Forum, the old home of their city rivals.
The game also marks the first of four matchups between the teams this season, wrapping up by March 2.
The Lakers enter after consecutive victories, the most recent of which was a 102-101 nail-biter over the visiting Brooklyn Nets on Jan 17 that came as star Anthony Davis watched from the bench while dealing with plantar fasciitis.
The Lakers nearly blew an eight-point lead with 3min 45sec remaining but held on as Austin Reaves scored a career-high 38 points, with 15 coming in the final quarter. LeBron James added 29 points with eight assists.
Lakers head coach J.J. Redick expects Davis to return to the court on Jan 19.
Reaves was not just stepping up to fill the Davis scoring void, he has also taken on a higher profile offence role for a month, during which point guard D’Angelo Russell was traded to the Nets on Dec 29.
“He’s in his process and he’s taking the opportunity and running with it, literally running with it,” James said about Reaves.
“And I love every moment that he’s given the opportunity to go out and showcase his talent with the best players in the world, and he’s showing every night that he belongs. It’s a beautiful thing to see.”
The Clippers are on a three-game winning streak that included a rousing 126-67 victory over the Nets on Jan 15.
The Clippers earned a 118-89 road victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Jan 16, when Norman Powell scored 23 points, James Harden added 19 and the team shot 56.4 per cent from the floor, including 43.5 per cent from three-point range.
Kawhi Leonard has played in four games since returning from chronic knee discomfort, but did not play at Portland on the second night of a back-to-back. He did have a season-best 23 points against the Nets on eight-of-11 shooting.
Leonard is expected to face the Lakers after playing a season-high 24 minutes on Jan 15 and getting direction from head coach Tyronn Lue to assume a bigger part of the offence.
“It felt good, but like I said before, I’m taking my time,” Leonard said. “Just because I made shots doesn’t mean (everything), to me at least. It’s about how I’m moving and feeling.”
The Clippers are now set to play four games in five nights, with a quick turnaround to face the Chicago Bulls on Jan 20 before games against the Boston Celtics on Jan 22 and the Washington Wizards on Jan 23.
All four games are at home, where the team are 14-6. REUTERS
