Beijing time on February 26, today, the NBA ushered in a derby battle, the Los Angeles Lakers home to meet the Los Angeles Clippers, which is a dialogue between the ninth in the West and the eighth in the West, this card battle is crucial for both sides. Judging from the overall ranking and performance this season, the Clippers are much better than the Lakers, and in the absence of the two major stars, the Clippers rely on a group of role players to drag into the top eight, and the strength should not be underestimated. At the beginning of the first quarter, the two teams fought without points, the Clippers led the opponent by 2 points at 24-22, Howard shot 2 of 3 in the first quarter, 4 of 4 free throws, cut 8 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocks, including 5 frontcourt rebounds.
Entering the second quarter, the Clippers blossomed more points, took advantage of the chase, led by Mann and Kennard, ended the first half with a 10-point advantage, the score was 57-47, and James scored 14 points in the first half. Easy side to fight again, Zubac took 2 points in the air, Reeves teamed up with Wei Shao to score 4 points, Morris also had mid-range, and soon, Wei Shao Jinji independently took 2 more points, and the Clippers were suspended. Back from the timeout, Ariza quickly attacked, Anderson also had a strong shot under the basket, but Manchester United scored 4 points in a row, after which Munch and Tucker played 2+1 in succession, and the Lakers played a wave of 17-6 small climax, and the score narrowed to 1 point.
Turning back, Kennard received the ball and fell on a three-pointer, and the Lakers were forced to pause. After the timeout, James made a successful layup, Reggie dunked in response, but the Lakers played momentum, after anthony bottom corner rained three points, Tucker also had three points, the Lakers completed the counterattack, soon, James quick attack sneak attack and then 2 points, Hatten down the dunk to stop the bleeding, but Anthony first hit a difficult 2 points, and then assisted Tucker dunk to win, the third quarter of the battle, the Lakers 78-72 led the opponent by 6 points. In the final quarter, the two teams successively scored free throws, and Kofi also had a strong shot under the basket.
Immediately after, Covington teamed up with Kofi to score 4 points, but Tucker was bold and had to throw continuously in the face of defenders, but Kofi quickly hit 3 points, but Munch dunked again, and the game was suspended. Pause back, Reggie threw 2 points into the account, Tucker felt hot, turned over and blossomed, Kofi did not hesitate to let go, returned 2 points, but Tucker played a state, facing Reggie's defense and hit three points, Reggie did not want to show weakness to throw back the salute, after that, Westbrook joined forces with Anthony to score 5 points in a row, and the Clippers were stopped.
In the decisive moment, Mann and Anthony played against each other for three points, Hatten threw 2 points to stop the bleeding, after Anthony steals, Westbrook burst into the account with 2 points, and Kofi pulled a layup to bite the score. In the final 90 seconds, James broke through the miss, Mann teamed up with Coffey to score 4 points, Reeves also made two free throws, and the Lakers led by 1 point. In the final 44.5 seconds, Morris won in mid-range, the Clippers had an 8-second violation, but Anthony missed a key three-pointer, Reggie stepped on the free throw line, and in the end, the Clippers narrowly beat the Lakers 105-102.
After this game, the Lakers continued to rank ninth in the West with a record of 27 wins and 32 losses, and the Clippers' record of 31 wins and 31 losses ranked eighth in the West. In this game, Howard played 26 minutes, dreamed back to the peak, 5 of 11, cut 14 points and 16 rebounds, and sat on the bench at key moments that people could not understand; James played 36 minutes, crazy iron, dragged the team, 6 of 18, 7 of three points, contributed 21 points, 12 rebounds and 3 assists, a game-high 6 turnovers; Westbrook played 33 minutes, 9 of 21, got 18 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist, no mistakes, plus or minus +2; Anthony played 28 minutes, 7 of 14 shots, and scored 18 points and 5 rebounds Tucker played 27 minutes, 6 of 9, with 16 points and 3 rebounds, becoming a fig leaf for the team, and Munch made 3 of 9 and had only 7 points and 6 assists.
For the Clippers, Mann 19 points, 10 boards, 4 assists, 3 assists, Reggie 17 points, 4 boards and 6 assists, Kennard 18 points, 6 boards and 2 assists, Harten 11 points, 7 boards and 6 assists, Morris Jr. 10 points and 3 boards, Zubac 6 points and 7 boards, Kofi 14 points and 2 assists, Covington 10 points, 7 boards, 2 breaks and 3 blocks. In this game, James's performance was disappointing, and at the critical moment of the final quarter, James was useless at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends, becoming a burden to the team, and the Lakers were getting farther and farther away from the playoffs