Clippers take care of skidding Lakers
LOS ANGELES — Danilo Gallinari scored 23 points, and the visiting Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 113-105 on Monday night for their third consecutive victory.
Lou Williams scored 21 points off the bench, and Montrezl Harrell added 14 points and 11 rebounds in a reserve role for the Clippers, who moved back into sole possession of seventh place in the Western Conference, a half-game behind the Utah Jazz and a half-game ahead of the San Antonio Spurs.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander also scored 14 points, and Patrick Beverley added 13 points, nine rebounds and five steals for the Clippers. Landry Shamet had 12 points.
Rajon Rondo scored a seasonhigh 24 points to go with 10 rebounds and 12 assists for his first triple-double with the Lakers. LeBron James finished with 27 points, eight rebounds and six assists, Josh Hart scored 17 off the bench.
Brandon Ingram, third on the Lakers in scoring at 18.3 points, missed the game because of a sore right shoulder. Second-leading scorer Kyle Kuzma (18.9 points per game) scored 13 before leaving midway through the fourth quarter due to an injured right ankle.
The 10th-place Lakers, who have lost five of their past six, are 5 1/2 games behind the final Western Conference playoff spot.
The Lakers took an 82-79 lead on a three-point play by Hart with 2:55 left in the third quarter, but the Clippers came back with a 10-0 run to take their biggest lead to that point at 89-82 with 40.6 seconds left in the third.
Lakers guard Reggie Bullock sank a long step-back jumper at the buzzer to cut the deficit to 91-85 entering the fourth, but the Clippers scored the first four points of the fourth to take their first double-digit lead.
The Lakers got as close as five with 7:57 left, but the Clippers scored the next eight points during a run in which Kuzma was also injured.
The Lakers led by as many as 10 late in the first quarter. After the Clippers caught up, the Lakers retook the lead 42-41 on a dunk by Harrell with 6:49 left in the first half.
The Clippers stretched their second-quarter lead to as many as six points before scoring the final four points of the first half to take a 61-57 edge into the break. —