San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
NO EXCUSES THIS TIME FOR CLIPPERS, LAKERS
The first matchup, in October, was a spectacle.
The second, on Christmas, was a thriller.
But when the Lakers and Clippers meet today for a third time this season, it will deliver something neither of the previous two ever could — a realistic preview of what a postseason series between the Staples Center co-tenants and Western Conference heavyweights might look like.
Their stars are healthy, their rosters all but set for the postseason and that continuity has helped the Lakers win 12 of their last 14 games and the Clippers six in a row.
“They’re at full strength, we’re at full strength,” Lakers forward Lebron James said. “And we look forward to the challenge to see how we can match up with them again.”
In a statement victory Friday night, the Lakers not only matched up with league-leading Milwaukee but won going away behind 37 points from James, who outdueled reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo down the stretch.
En route to the Western Conference’s best record, by a 51⁄2-game gap, the Lakers (48-13) have beaten every team in the West — except for the Clippers (43-19).
“We never want to lose to a team all the time, especially throughout the course of a season, so this game Sunday is another kind of, like, revenge game,” Lakers forward Anthony Davis said. “We feel like we had
’em both games and let it slip late in the game, especially on Christmas Day. It’s gonna be another battle and test, and we’re gonna be ready for it.”
The previous matchups didn’t lack for intensity. And yet, because of injuries, they offered an incomplete picture of what a playoff showdown might resemble.
Clippers forward Paul George missed the first game while recovering from shoulder surgeries. He has averaged 15.8 points, and made 42 percent of his 3-pointers, in his last six games since returning from a hamstring injury. In the second matchup, James was largely ineffective after reinjuring his groin.
“The first game, we kind of threw that game out the window, it’s the first game of the season,” James said. “Who were we? Who were they? They had way more returning guys than we did. We were still trying to figure out ourselves. And then the Christmas Day game we didn’t play to our capabilities.”
The Christmas victory was the Clippers’ first game of the season playing with a fully healthy roster. They are now 10-0 in that respect, and their current run of full health — now standing at two weeks — has transformed the team from displaying their potential only in flashes to winning by an average of 17 points amid a winning streak that has thrust them into second place in the
Western Conference.
Since their streak began Feb. 24, the Clippers’ plus-16 net rating, the difference between points scored and allowed per 100 possessions, is nearly double that of second-place Indiana (8.5), with the Lakers (8.4) right behind.
A subplot today is how the new players each team has added in hopes of winning the West — and toppling one another — fare in the spotlight.
The Lakers badly wanted forward Marcus Morris at the Feb. 6 trade deadline, but it was the Clippers who had the assets to complete a deal with New York and add a third 6-foot-8 rugged defender and threepoint threat to their starting lineup. Soon after, Morris’ twin brother, Markieff, was signed by the Lakers.
After the Clippers signed point guard Reggie Jackson, who has averaged 8.7 points and 40 percent 3point shooting in seven games since being bought out in Detroit, the Lakers countered by signing former Miami guard and free agent Dion Waiters.