At any time, the Los Angeles derby will attract everyone's attention. Although leBron James continues to be absent from the Lakers side, and the Clippers are missing twin stars Cowai Leonard and Paul George, the two teams still staged a thrilling classic showdown. In the end, with Reggie Jackson's layup, And Anthony Davis failed in the final attack, the Clippers became the winner in the Los Angeles derby.
Despite the Twins' long absence, the Clippers' roster depth and resilience are impressive, and in this game, in addition to Marcus Morris, who has quite dazzling statistics, and Reggie Jackson in the deadly game, Clippers center Sergio Ibaka started first and once again played a wonderful performance against the Lakers. Ibaka shot 9-of-15 from the field, scoring 20 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks, and the plus-minus of +10 was also the highest on the team.
Ibaka, who has dual citizenship in Spain and Congo, was selected with the 24th pick in the first round in 2008, but Ibaka did not immediately come to the NBA to play until the 09-10 season when he went to the Thunder to report. Ibaka is also a lucky player, because in his first season in the NBA, the Thunder returned to the playoffs after many years, and Ibaka also played with the team. Although he was only a substitute at that time, Ibaka's performance on the court was also unambiguous, facing the Lakers' three-high lineup composed of Andrew Bynum, Paul Gasol and Lamar Odom, the Thunder's young player can be described as a newborn calf who is not afraid of the tiger, and Ibaka averaged 7.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2 blocks per game, considering that he is only playing in the playoffs for the first time, such a performance is already very good. If it weren't for Gasol's somewhat lucky basket kill in the sixth game of the series, the final result would be really difficult to say.
But this experience undoubtedly allows the Thunder to finally gain confidence, and Ibaka personally continues to improve. During his time with the Thunder, Ibaka was named to the All-Defensive Team for three consecutive years, including twice being named league block king. The Thunder have also been the top team in the West for a long time, they have reached the division finals three times, and in the 11-12 season, they have been all the way to the Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs, reaching the Finals, but unfortunately lost to the more old Miami Heat. Ibaka also played a wonderful performance, in the 11-12 Western Conference Finals, in addition to showing a tough defense, he also had a precise mid-range jumper, which also became a key factor for the Thunder to eliminate the Spurs. And the 13-14 Western Conference Finals, the Thunder once again encountered the Spurs, the first two consecutive teams lost, had to force a comeback with injury, although the Thunder once won two consecutive games to equalize the total score, but finally eliminated by the Spurs. It is even more regrettable that Ibaka has caused great hidden dangers to his body because of this injury.
In the summer of 2016, the Thunder chose to send Ibaka away, and he came to the Magic, but in Orlando Ibaka was just a hurried passerby. In just half a season, Ibaka was sent to the Raptors, which also became a turning point in his career to some extent. The Raptors' competitiveness and management level of operation are much stronger than the Magic, and in the summer of 2018, seeing Leonard fall out with the Spurs, Raptors general manager Ugerry made a decisive move, exchanging DeRozan, Peltel and a first-round pick for Leonard and Danny Green. In the 18-19 season, the Raptors against the Lakers, Ibaka had a big kill, he shot 15 of 17 from the field, slashed 34 points and 10 rebounds, it is worth mentioning that Ibaka's first 14 shots were all hit. This season, the Raptors also prevented the Warriors from achieving a three-game winning streak, and successfully laughed to the end, winning the first championship trophy in team history, and Ibaka also successfully fulfilled his dream.
After his contract expired, Ibaka joined the Clippers as a free agent, but he suffered from numerous injuries last season, and his stats and role were much worse than before. Ibaka has also missed a lot of games this season, averaging just 6.8 points and 4.3 rebounds per game so far, a number of new data record show season lows. But when he met the familiar Lakers again, Ibaka seemed to kill the red eye, as if he had returned to his peak.
There has been a long line of news that Ibaka's actual age is likely to be older than officially shown, which is not uncommon for many African players. And even at the official age, Ibaka is already a 32-year-old veteran. Due to the accumulation of injuries and the increase in age, Ibaka's mobility and basket deterrence are much less than before compared to his peak, but he has unconsciously completed the transformation, Ibaka began to play more as a team center, the offensive end is more dependent on outside projection, and if Ibaka is the fifth position, speed and flexibility can sometimes dominate. Even if it has entered the twilight of his career, Ibaka's role is still not small, and before Leonard and Paul George return, the role of Ibaka may be more important than everyone thinks.