February 15, 2025
The Lakers are ready to see the Clippers’ new home if they make it

The Lakers are ready to see the Clippers’ new home if they make it

Inglewood, CA, Monday, November 18, 2024 - Pre-game light show as the LA Clippers and Golden State Warriors play at the Intuit Dome. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

The Clippers host the Lakers for the first time at the Intuit Dome on Sunday. Expect lots of fireworks. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

Approximately nine thousand four hundred and forty-eight days ago, Derek Harper drained two free throws at the Los Angeles Sports Arena with one second on the clock for the last point scored by a Lakers player in a true away game against the Clippers.

After March 9, 1999, the Lakers and Clippers played as roommates each time, as co-tenants of Staples Center (and later Crypto.com Arena) – a bizarre situation that resulted in banners being covered and traffic jams forming underneath building as players from both teams tried to leave the parking lot that was designated for one home team, not two.

After their win over Brooklyn on Friday, that transportation issue was naturally on LeBron James’ mind as he and his team prepared for the Lakers-Clippers’ next chapter on Sunday at the new Intuit Dome in Inglewood.

“LeBron asked after the game what the situation was when we arrived, and I think they understood everything,” said Austin Reaves, who scored a career-high 38 points on Friday, with a slight shrug. “So I just have to ask someone.”

Assuming the Lakers figure out how to get into the building, they’ll face a Clippers team that’s much better than the one that closed the Sports Arena in 1999 and finished with a, gosh, 9-41 record ( the season doesn’t start until February). because of a work problem).

This edition of the Clippers was one of the best stories of the first half of the season, their swarming defense pairing masterfully with James Harden’s systemic offense and Norman Powell’s breakout season.

Read more: Austin Reaves scores a career-high 38 as the Lakers defeat D’Angelo Russell and the Nets

In many ways, the Clippers are designed to compensate for the Lakers’ weaknesses. Her physicality, her motor, her size and her athleticism were all things that gave the Lakers problems in losses to Detroit, Houston, Minnesota and Cleveland.

And the Lakers are still trying to work out some core issues — namely, how to stay in touch and script when things get tough.

“When our team stuck together despite adversity, we won some games,” coach JJ Redick said before Friday’s game. “We’ve turned some tough games, even a recent game against Houston, into one-possession games where we’ve had a chance to tie or win. So I think I would give the process a B for our team in terms of execution. I still have a long way to go and to be honest I’m probably a two-fer as a coach.

“I can live with certain results as long as the competitive spirit is there. I have a good feeling about it and we can build on that. Sometimes we can all get a little disappointed with the results. This happens and it is human nature.”

On Friday against the Nets, the Lakers certainly couldn’t build on the positive vibes following their second-half comeback win over Miami on Wednesday. They needed fourth-quarter heroics from LeBron James and Reaves to lead the team to a narrow win against a struggling and undermanned Nets team.

On Sunday against the Clippers, the Lakers should have Anthony Davis and Dorian Finney-Smith back in the lineup, reminding us that it’s difficult to fit one game into the next.

Read more: Norman Powell and James Harden help the Clippers win over Portland

“We weren’t the same team tonight as far as our lineup and our overall group as we were in the Miami game,” James said Friday night. “So every game has its own factors and you just have to figure out how to be the best that night. And of course we weren’t the best tonight, but that’s what films are for, that’s why we can clean up and be better for the next game.

“But now the Clippers are a game in their own right and we have to understand that and go from there.”

And once they figure out where to park, they can get to work.

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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.

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