Lakers’ star trio back together to battle resurgent Clippers in Battle of Los Angeles
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From left: Los Angeles Lakers' Austin Reaves celebrating his basket with Luka Doncic and LeBron James during their 135-118 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Nov 25, 2025.
PHOTO: AFP
LOS ANGELES – There will be far more than pride on the line as the Battle of LA resumes on Feb 20 (Feb 21, Singapore time) with plenty at stake for the Los Angeles Clippers and the hosts Los Angeles Lakers.
While the Lakers hope to have all of their stars in place for the fourth and final matchup of the National Basketball Association (NBA) regular season, the Clippers – who lead the season series 2-1 – will continue a daunting back-to-back challenge as they return from the All-Star break.
Luka Doncic is scheduled to return for the Lakers after missing the last four games before the break with a hamstring injury. The Slovenian played a token five minutes in the Feb 15 All-Star Game, scoring two points on three shots from the floor.
Injuries have limited the Lakers’ star trio of Doncic, LeBron James and Austin Reaves to just 10 games together all season. James missed the opening 14 games of the season with sciatica and Reaves missed all of January with a calf issue but will no longer will be on a minutes restriction.
“I know that when we’ve played some of our best basketball of the season, we’ve looked very good,” James said. “On the other side, when we’ve been terrible, we’ve looked disgusting.
“So, I think the most important is, if we can get healthy, how many minutes we can be on the floor, how much chemistry we can build with this sprint starting.”
Despite their health challenges, the Lakers are in fifth place in the Western Conference, percentage points ahead of the Minnesota Timberwolves and eight games behind the first-place Oklahoma City Thunder. Doncic leads the league with an average of 32.8 points per game.
Ninth in the Western Conference standings, the Clippers improved to 21-7 since Dec 20 by hanging on for a 115-114 victory over the visiting Denver Nuggets on Feb 19. Bennedict Mathurin scored a season-high 38 points on his Clippers home debut, while Kawhi Leonard added 23 points.
While the Clippers’ trade of James Harden to the Cleveland Cavaliers grabbed the most attention, Mathurin was acquired from the Indiana Pacers in a deal that cost Clippers big man Ivica Zubac.
After getting past a team bound for the play-offs in the Nuggets, who have a pair of All-Stars in Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic, the Clippers have a similar challenge. The Lakers are also sitting in a play-off position and have a pair of All-Stars, James and Doncic.
“It’s tough playing against (Jokic). He’s the best in the world and he puts you in tough positions,” said Clippers coach Tyronn Lue, after his team snatched victory against the Nuggets despite trailing by 10 points in the third quarter. They were also down by six with eight minutes left.
Leonard has scored at least 20 points in 34 consecutive games, the second-longest active 20-point streak in the NBA.
In other NBA action on Feb 19, Cade Cunningham totalled 42 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds as Eastern Conference leaders Detroit Pistons pulled away in the second half and completed a season sweep of the hosts New York Knicks with a 126-111 victory.
Over in San Francisco, Jaylen Brown collected 23 points, 15 rebounds and 13 assists to lead the visiting Boston Celtics to a 121-110 triumph over the Golden State Warriors, whose star Stephen Curry was missing his sixth consecutive game with soreness in his right knee. REUTERS
