Beijing time, April 6, 2023, today's NBA game, the 41-38 Clippers face the 41-38 Lakers at home, the two teams have the same record, the Clippers ranked sixth in the West by virtue of the head-to-head advantage, and the Lakers ranked seventh. This game will be crucial for both sides and will determine who makes it to the playoffs. In addition, the Pelicans defeated the Grizzlies today, they are only 0.5 wins behind the Lakers and Clippers, and the Pelicans' record will equal one of the Lakers and Clippers.
Although the Clippers lack the big general George, they have a better chance of winning, because the Clippers have faced the Lakers 10-0 in the past 3 seasons, which is the biggest suffering of the Lakers, and the Lakers are back-to-back, yesterday they played 1 overtime with the Jazz before winning by 2 points, and the Lakers' physical strength may be exhausted.
Clippers starters: Wilson + Gordon + Leonard + Batum + Zubac, Lakers starters: Russell + Reeves + James + Vanderbilt + thick eyebrows.
In the first quarter of the game, Zubac, Gordon, Wei Shao played 8-0, Vanderbilt made 1 of 2 free throws, Leonard hit a shot, the Clippers led by 9 points, thick eyebrows made a layup, Leonard dunked, Gordon three points, the Clippers led by 12 points to stop the Lakers, Russell three points after the timeout came back, Wei Shao responded with three points, James made a layup, Wei Shao shot in response, Reeves three points, Batum responded with three points, the difference was still 12 points, Vanderbilt, thick eyebrows, Reeves chased the difference to 5 points, Wei Shao shot and scored, thick eyebrows, Russell, Brown went on an 8-0 comeback by one point, Leonard, Gordon, and Plumlee responded with a 7-0 tie-up of six points, Russell and Brown scored, Leonard and Mann responded, and the Clippers led 37-31 in the first quarter.
In the second quarter of the game, Powell packed the first 9 points of the Clippers, the Lakers scored 5 consecutive points from Beasley, the Clippers led by 10 points, James missed the shot, Zubac and Mann scored 4 consecutive points, the Clippers led by 14 points, Hachimura made 2 free throws, Zubac and Mann responded, the difference came to 16 points, Hachimura, Beasley, Gabe scored, Powell, Zubac, Leonard responded, the difference was 17 points to stop the Lakers, Reeves chased the difference to 11 points, Leonard 2 three-pointers, Wilson hit a shot, and the Clippers led 71-52 at halftime. Leonard scored 17 points in the half, Wilson 12, James just three in the half, and Reeves 10.
In the third quarter, Zubac and Leonard scored 5 consecutive points, the Clippers led by 24 points, James rushed to score consecutive points, the difference chased 14 points, Wei Shao throwed, thick eyebrows, Reeves, James chased the difference to 8 points, Zubac made 2 free throws, Vanderbilt and thick eyebrows chased points, the difference was 7 points, Powell scored consecutive points to extend the gap to 13 points, Schroder and James chased the difference to 9 points, Powell, Plumlee scored, James layup, and the Clippers led 93-82 in the third quarter. James scored 16 points in the quarter.
In the fourth quarter of the game, Hyland and Mann hit 2 consecutive three-pointers, the Clippers led by 17 points, Gabe, James scored, Leonard, Highland responded, the difference was still 17 points, Russell, Gabe, James scored, Hyland , Zubac, Leonard responded, the difference came to 20 points, Vanderbilt scored, Batum made 2 free throws, the difference was still 20 points, James chased the difference to 16 points, Leonard made 2 free throws, the difference was 18 points, thick eyebrows, James chased the difference to 13 points, Zubac made up the deduction, the difference was 15 points, With 2 minutes and 35 seconds left in the game, Vanderbilt, James, and Reeves chased the difference to 9 points, Powell scored, Reeves scored three points, Highland made 1 of 2 free throws, Russell threw a shot, Highland made 2 free throws, Reeves made 2 free throws, the game was over, the Clippers defeated the Lakers 125-118, and the Clippers suppressed the Lakers in this game and won the game.
James scored 33 points, 8 boards and 7 assists on 7-of-20 shooting (4-of-6 three-pointers), 17 points, 11 boards, 3 assists and 2 blocks on 7-of-14 shooting, Reeves 20 points, 4 boards and 2 assists, Russell 15 points, 3 boards and 7 assists, and Vanderbilt 8 points and 6 boards.
For the Clippers, Leonard had 25 points, 7 boards and 4 assists on 9-of-17 shooting, Powell scored 27 points, 2 boards and 4 assists on 8-of-15 shooting, Wilson scored 14 points, 3 boards and 4 assists on 6-of-12 shooting, Zubac played well with 17 points, 13 boards and 2 steals, Highland had 14 points, 2 boards and 4 assists, and Mann had 10 points and 3 boards.
After defeating the Lakers today with 42-38, the Clippers ranked 42-38 and came to fifth in the West, the Warriors became sixth, and the Lakers still ranked seventh, but the record has been tied by the eighth-placed Pelicans.
For the Warriors, although they dropped to sixth, they received a big gift, because what the Warriors want is to enter the playoffs as sixth, so that they can avoid the Suns in the first round and face the Kings who have no playoff experience.