LOS ANGELES — The Lakers won their sixth straight game on Sunday and improved to 38-21 after their final showdown of the season against the Clippers, beating them 108-102 and finishing 3-1 this season against the cross-town rival as they move up to the No. 2 seed in the West.
The Lakers were thin in their rotation, being down Austin Reaves (calf), Rui Hachimura (left patellar tendinopathy), and Jordan Goodwin (ankle) to injuries, which meant a next-up mentality was needed from the other guys, and it showed, continuing their label of being a gritty and scrappy team.
The defense had another stellar showing, continuing their success in forcing another opponent to 102 points (or less), a rarity and tough task in today's high-scoring league, especially for an NBA team that traded one of the best two big men in the league in Anthony Davis.
They've proved that even without that defensive anchor in the middle, they can guard the best, holding their opponents to that mark (102) or less in the last seven games, going 7-1 (DEN, DAL, MIN, some notable teams) in that span.
Luka Dončić got things going in the first quarter in what looked like his most emotional game as a Laker, scoring 29 points on 52.9% (nine-of-17) shooting—his highest mark from the field since joining the Lakers.
After hitting his first couple of 3-pointers, he was seen jawing toward the Clippers' bench, slowly increasing the intensity and home crowd cheers at Crypto.com Arena. That intensity and play got the Lakers off to an early 13-4 lead, forcing Clippers head coach Ty Lue to call the game's first timeout.
"It’s been great. The atmosphere has been unbelievable, and we just want to give the people what they want, and that is winning the games. That’s what we are doing right now,” Dončić said.
The Lakers came out hot from the floor, shooting 76% in the first quarter. But nine turnovers in the opening quarter for the Lakers kept the margin close, with Kawhi Leonard, who finished with 33 points, leading the way for the Clippers.
You can say rookie Dalton Knecht has had a strange and whirlwind of impactful circumstances surrounding him in that past month. Getting traded to Charlotte for Mark Williams. Flying to and with the Hornets team in one of their road games just to end up back in L.A. as the trade fell through. One thing you can never question since that experience is his professionalism.
Knecht was the Lakers turning point in their thin lineup, hitting his first two shots from 3-point range on his way to a five-of-eight shooting night from deep, finishing with 19 points in 24 minutes off the bench.
"My teammates know what I can do, and I’m just trying to stay consistent for them and make life easy for my teammates,” Knecht said.
Clippers' leading scorer Norman Powell played in his first game since March 12 but only saw nine minutes before leaving the game with a hamstring injury, which hurt the Clippers even more, who were already down Ben Simmons and Derrick Jones Jr.
The Lakers would maintain their lead (and momentum) to halftime and reached their biggest lead (21) of the game in the third behind a 10-point quarter from Dončic, but a solid start to the fourth by the Clippers, outscoring the Lakers 11-4, put the margin to five with under eight minutes left.
As the game got closer to the final horn, the crowd anticipated LeBron James reaching a mark that had never been reached before.
Going into the game, James was 18 points away from reaching 50K career points (regular and playoffs). He had 12 points going into the fourth, and around the seven-minute mark, a wild sequence ensued, which magnified the team's grit.
The sequence saw the Lakers get three offensive rebounds and James get four shots on the possession, ending in a corner three from James to put him one point away from the milestone with 17 points.
As the game continued, the crowd slowly anticipated James' every move, as a bucket from him could happen at any moment.
That moment never came.
The Lakers were so wrapped up in the moment of unbreakable territory that it almost led to surrendering their lead. The Clippers got it within five after a wide-open missed layup from Dorian Finney-Smith and missed corner three from Gabe Vincent. The Lakers snapped back into the moment, closing out the Clippers despite being outscored 25-19 in the fourth quarter.
With 35 seconds left and the Lakers up by five, Dončić got striped by the Clippers' Kris Dunn with a straight path to the basket. Then, doing what he's done countless times, James swooped in for the chase-down block, saving two points in a clutch moment. The block was initially called a goaltend but was overturned after review.
LEBRON CLUTCH CHASEDOWN BLOCK 🤯 pic.twitter.com/pPMDeiIimM
— NBA (@NBA) March 3, 2025
The play helped secure the Lakers 23rd win this season at home (23-7) and epitomize what the team's defense has been, with 40-year-old James at the helm night in and night out in his 22nd season.
James stands at 49,999 career points (regular season and playoffs), a feat that will undoubtedly be reached in the Lakers' next game.
Next Game
The Lakers will play the next two on Tuesday (NOP) and Thursday (NYK) to finish their six-game homestand. This will be the second time L.A. sees both teams this season, beating both teams in the first games.
All-Time Record Between the Two
This was the 243rd game between the two franchises, and the Lakers have won 156 of those games. In my cool findings, I found that the Lakers had a 16-game win streak—the longest between the two—against LAC that spanned three years (Apr 18, 1997 to Dec 30, 2000).
