Clippers at Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers are fading fast in the Western Conference playoff race and may have bottomed out with an ugly loss at last-place Phoenix on Saturday. The Lakers will try to bounce back and gain ground on one of the teams they hope to track down in the West when they host the Los Angeles Clippers at the Staples Center on Monday.
"I'm not here to harp on the negativity or the negative. We had opportunities," superstar LeBron James told reporters after the 118-109 loss to the Suns. "Yeah, we could've played better here, played better there. That's been throughout the whole season. But right now it's a tough loss." The Lakers have dropped eight of 11 overall, sit 4 1/2 games out of a playoff spot and are five games behind the seventh-place Clippers, who topped New York 128-107 on Sunday. Landry Shamet scored all 21 of his points on seven 3-pointers and the Clippers were 19-of-35 from beyond the arc overall as they won for the fifth time in their last seven games. "We all know our roles since the trade," Shamet told reporters, referring to the trade that sent star forward Tobias Harris to Philadelphia last month. "I feel like we all play very well together and take ownership."
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, NBATV, FS Prime Ticket (Clippers), Spectrum SportsNet (Lakers)
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (36-29): Danilo Gallinari scored 20 points in Saturday's win and he and Shamet combined for 27 of the team's 38 points in a dominant first quarter. "It's tough to play defense against shooters and two or three at the same time is tough," Gallinari told reporters. Shamet is averaging 20.5 points while making 12-of-21 from 3-point range over the last two games.
ABOUT THE LAKERS (30-33): Frustration and uncertainty were evident in the Lakers' locker room after the loss to Phoenix, and there is a growing desperation to solve some problems ahead of a challenging stretch run. "Obviously there's something wrong with this team, and it's up to us to try to fix it, but not really sure right now," forward Kyle Kuzma told reporters. James had 27 points, 16 assists and nine rebounds against the Suns, and the 34-year-old is 40 points shy of passing Michael Jordan and moving into fourth place on the NBA's all-time scoring list.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. James had 24 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists in a 123-120 overtime win in the previous meeting.
2. Lakers C JaVale McGee made all 10 of his shot attempts at Phoenix to improve to 18-for-19 from the floor over a three-game span.
3. Clippers PG Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 14.3 points on 60 percent shooting in his last three games after averaging 2.3 while making 1-of-17 shots over his previous three contests.