The Los Angeles Lakers played a much better game against the Los Angeles Clippers but came up short down the stretch.

Blake Griffin had a monster night with 39 points, seven rebounds, and four assists. He did a wonderful job of drawing fouls and putting the Laker bigs in foul trouble as Carlos Boozer, Jordan Hill, and Ed Davis all had five fouls. Jamal Crawford was the closer, scoring 14 of his 22 in the fourth quarter.

The Clippers jumped out to a 15-point lead very early in this game and led 31-22 at the end of the first quarter.  The Lakers started to slowly catch fire in the second quarter. With sufficient ball movement and excellent shooting, the Lakers narrowed the margin to three.

The hot shooting by the Lakers continued in the third quarter. With Kobe Bryant and Jeremy Lin orchestrating the offense, the Lakers were getting high percentage shots and came back to take a seven-point lead.

Jordan Hill helped the team a lot in this one with his efficient play. He had 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting. Kobe needed more help offensively, and Hill answered the call. Jeremy Lin played a solid game as well, adding 17 points and nine assists.

The Lakers held on to the lead throughout the rest of the third quarter. They headed to the fourth quarter with a 90-86 lead.

Midway through the fourth, the game intensity escalated as the Clippers tied the game at 97 off an alley-oop play courtesy of Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan. With less than five minutes to go, both teams went back-and-forth. Jeremy Lin hit an incredibly tough three pointer over Paul to beat the shot clock buzzer, but Jamal Crawford was fouled on the other end by Wesley Johnson beyond the arc. He hit all three costless throws.

After the Clippers took a three-point lead, Wayne Ellington knocked down a three to tie the game, but Jamal Crawford answered with a long, 28-foot three pointer of his own to recapture a three-point lead for the Clips. Kobe then answered with a two-point jump shot on the other end to cut the lead to one.

After Griffin hit two costless throws with 21 seconds remaining to give the Clippers a three-point lead, the Lakers called a timeout. The Lakers inbounded the ball to Kobe who fired a 26-foot bomb and missed. Redick corralled the rebound, and the Lakers faith was sealed.

Despite a losing effort, the Lakers played much better as a team. Kobe received more help on the offensive end, and there was better ball movement. The Clippers, on the other hand, may not be too impressed with their first two wins. They played a close one against a shorthanded Thunder and another against the Lakers.

For a second straight night, the Clippers were out-rebounded, but the difference wasn’t as bad as it was against the Thunder in this one. The Lakers shot a better percentage than the Clippers but were unable to hit key shots down the stretch.

Kobe Bryant finished with 21 points and seven assists in this game. He did not have to carry a heavy load offensively tonight because his teammates stepped up. Ed Davis was impressive again as he put in 10 points and six rebounds on 5-of-6 shooting in 20 minutes.

Aside from Griffin’s huge scoring night and Jamal Crawford’s fourth quarter performance, the Clippers had two who put up a double-double. Chris Paul had 12 points and 10 assists, while DeAndre Jordan had 11 points and 13 rebounds. J.J. Redick was the other Clipper in double figures scoring with 15 points.

The Lakers drop to 0-3 in the season, but they did not get blown out in this one. They have another tough game tomorrow, November 1 against the Golden State Warriors on the road.

The Clippers improve to 2-0 and will play their next game on November 2 against the Sacramento Kings. 

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About the author
Vahan Shakhpazyan
Vahan Shakhpazyan loves the NBA with a passion and has been an avid follower for 18 years. He is a UCR graduate with a BA degree in Creative Writing. The man behind the Facebook page NBA updates.