OCEANSIDE – The San Diego Clippers (4-1) took on the South Bay Lakers (1-3) in their first matchup of the season, where the Clips’ took the win at Frontwave, Arena 112-100
Elijah Harkless finished with a career high 28 points. He also had 7 rebounds and 3 assists. “It was pretty cool. My teammates have been believing in me, getting on me everyday at practice, so I appreciate them. It was pretty dope to do that tonight,” he said post-game.
Bronny James, the 55th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, was not on the roster for Wednesday's matchup. It had been speculated that James would only be playing home games for the Lakers, and was not seen on the Lakers’ bench.
“A big thing for us is that the ball will stick, we don’t move it enough. The energy, the effort, us running the floor, that's good and will help us lead to more offense,” said head coach Paul Hewitt.
The majority of fans were in attendance as well, unsurprising due to the Southern California rivalry between the Lakers and Clippers.
Both teams were in a back and forth through most of the first quarter, but a balanced attack from Trentyn Flowers and Braxton Key who scored 13 of their 33 points in the quarter, leading by 6.
A RayJ Dennis fastbreak layup, then a 3 pointer on the next possession gave the Clippers momentum, up 9, and made the Lakers call timeout to reassess their approach. Through 3 minutes in the second frame, the Clippers had forced 12 turnovers on the Lakers compared to their 4. It was clear things were working on the defensive end for San Diego.
“When you come out the gate, you want to come out aggressive. We have a lot of scorers, twenty-eight tonight (from Harkless), Cam Christie, Trentyn Flowers, we just try to get them involved,” said Dennis.
“(Dennis is) A very smart player. Plays at the right tempo, RayJ can push the ball in transition, but he also knows when to speed it up or slow it down,” said Hewitt.
Dennis continued to take over the quarter, finishing with 17 points by halftime, where San Diego led 69-56. Elijah Harkless also contributed 12 points through that point.
The third quarter got off to a slow start, with a 12-8 run by the Lakers, but it took half the quarter to do so. Offenses were slowed down by both teams, and it looked to be a gritty battle, not unexpected from the Lakers Organization. It clashed with the Clipper’s quick tempo and style of play.
Jaelen House saw extended minutes this game, and continued his reliable play with a drive to the basket. It should be noted that a possible rise in House’s minutes is due to the absence of Nate Darling, who has missed the last 2 games away with Team Canada (He has also been listed as inactive on the team roster).
By the end of the third, the Clippers maintained a double-digit lead, 90-78. They were playing great defense, holding the Lakers to just 8 free throws through 3 quarters, and had forced 20 turnovers in that span.
A Lakers’ 8-0 run to start the fourth brought their lead down to just 4 points. The Clippers called timeout to talk things over. They came out and responded with a 16-9 run, capped off by a Tosan Evbuomwan dunk, to put the lead back up to 11 with under 3 minutes to play.
After they took control, it was over from there. As the buzzer rang, the Clips took the rivalry win. Through the first 5 games of the season, they are now at a 80% win percentage and are first place in the West division in the standings.
Up next is their rematch against South Bay, first game of a two game road trip. As this is their first time leaving the homestead, Dennis noted, “Being able to give ourselves energy. We got a good crowd here, so just being able to feed off each other, especially now on the road.
Harkless added, “Just a testament to our togetherness. We’re excited to go on the road, we’ve enjoyed our homestand, going 4-1 and easily could have been 5-0, but we can’t wait to go and come back with a better record.”