Lakers at Clippers
The Los Angeles Clippers are getting accustomed to posting easy
victories over their city rivals and look to defeat the Los Angeles
Lakers for the ninth consecutive time when they meet Friday at Staples Center. The Clippers recorded a 94-84 victory Dec. 25 and
have won the past eight meetings by an average of 22.8 points.
The Clippers have won 14 of their last 17 games and are coming off victories at Indiana and Atlanta to conclude a five-game road excursion that was overshadowed by power forward Blake Griffin breaking his right hand after punching equipment staffer Matias Testi in Toronto. "We went through a lot of stuff," Clippers coach Doc Rivers told reporters. " 'Clutter' is what I call it, and our guys, the best place for them is on the floor and they're playing like that." The Lakers are sinking further with eight straight defeats and 12 of their last 13 after suffering a 114-91 loss to the Chicago Bulls on Thursday. Kobe Bryant scored 10 points in 25 minutes while dealing with shoulder and Achilles injuries and his availability will be determined Friday afternoon.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, NBATV, TWC SportsNet (Lakers), Prime Ticket (Clippers)
ABOUT THE LAKERS (9-39): Los Angeles point guard D'Angelo Russell has dropped back into a funk with 5-of-19 shooting during the last two contests after going 16-of-22 in the previous two games. The No. 2 overall selection of the draft has had a topsy-turvy rookie campaign, and coach Byron Scott has been openly critical of Russell and the team in general. "From my standpoint, you start questioning if this is important to guys because it can't be every now and then," Scott said after the loss to the Bulls. "It has to get to the point where you go out and you compete every single night. That's just basically your job, to go out and play hard."
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (30-16): Point guard Chris Paul was named to his ninth consecutive NBA All-Star Game on Thursday when he was selected as a Western Conference reserve. Paul has been sensational in January with eight double-doubles while averaging 20.8 points and 11 assists to raise his season marks to 18.6 and 9.6, respectively. "He's been great," Rivers told reporters. "But he's been a leader all the time. I mean, he just is."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Clippers have registered five 20-point victories during their recent dominance of the series, including wins by 48 and 36 points.
2. Lakers SG Lou Williams (illness) missed the Chicago game and is questionable to play Friday.
3. Clippers C DeAndre Jordan has collected 19 rebounds in each of the past two games.