Lakers at Clippers
The Los Angeles Clippers are closing in on their fourth consecutive
50-win season and receive a nice gift from the schedule makers with
back-to-back games against the Los Angeles Lakers, beginning Tuesday at
the Staples Center. The Clippers have won the past nine meetings against
the Lakers, scoring an average of 114.1 points to win by an average of
21.5 points.
The Clippers, who have won five of their last six games, clinched home-court advantage for the first round of the Western Conference playoffs when they posted a 114-109 victory over the Washington Wizards on Sunday. Point guard Chris Paul had 27 points and 12 assists against Washington and is averaging 14 assists over the past three contests. The Lakers have lost nine of their last 11 games and have been dealing with distractions, most notably rookie guard D'Angelo Russell's odd secret filming of swingman Nick Young talking about affairs with women. The next loss will be the Lakers' 61st, tying the single-season franchise mark set last season.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, TWC SportsNet (Lakers), Prime Ticket (Clippers)
ABOUT THE LAKERS (16-60): Kobe Bryant scored 34 points in Sunday's 107-100 loss to the Boston Celtics for his fourth 30-point outing of the season. Bryant plans to play in each of the final six games before hitting retirement and his high-scoring outing against the Celtics followed up a two-game stretch in which he averaged 3.5 points on 2-of-18 shooting. While Bryant bounced back strong, Russell is struggling with three single-digit outings in the last five games and is 21-of-72 shooting during the stretch.
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (48-28): Power forward Blake Griffin returned from a 45-game absence due to quadriceps and hand injuries as well as a four-game suspension and had six points and five rebounds in 24 minutes against the Wizards. "It was just nice to be back out there - that's really the main takeaway," Griffin told reporters afterward. "I had a blast being out there. The rhythm was pretty bad. My conditioning was a little better than I thought it would be but not great by any means. Like I said, I was just happy to be back out on the court with my guys." Coach Doc Rivers plans to increase Griffin's minutes slowly and help him boost his stamina so he's ready for full duty when the playoffs start.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Paul averaged 25 points on 59.5 percent shooting as the Clippers won the first two meetings with the Lakers this season.
2. Clippers SF Paul Pierce (knee) is expected to miss his fourth straight game.
3. Lakers PF Julius Randle has recorded double-doubles in two straight games and five of the past seven.