The Lakers play at the Clippers on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. PT, in what Silver Screen and Roll calls round two of the Battle of Los Angeles. The Lakers visit the Clippers' home floor after losing to Portland, and ESPN framed its preview around Luka Doncic's 41-point night. Yahoo Sports said the Lakers "look to bounce back." Deadspin said the Lakers are coming off a high-scoring game and called them a team that has "finally met their match on offense."
BenchScout's box score shows what that 41 looked like. Doncic shot 12-of-22, hit 6 of 15 from three and made 11 of 13 free throws. He added 9 assists and 5 rebounds in 37 minutes. The Lakers still lost 136-129 on Tuesday at home. Portland shot 59% from the field and 50% from three, and outrebounded Los Angeles 38-31. The Lakers had the edge in fast-break points, 22-10, and in points off turnovers, 19-11. That wasn't enough to offset the defense.
The records differ by source. ESPN and Silver Screen and Roll list the Lakers at 3-1 and the Clippers at 1-2. ESPN has the Lakers fifth in the West and the Clippers ninth. BenchScout's tables have the Lakers at 2-1, first in the Pacific, and the Clippers at 1-1, second in the Pacific. Both clubs are on a one-game losing streak in our data. We can't say which count is right. One possible explanation is that the outlets include a game our tables don't. Silver Screen and Roll says the Lakers beat the Clippers last week, but we didn't find that game in our archive.
In our data, the Lakers have scored a lot. They beat Golden State 127-105 on Oct. 21 and won 132-123 at Utah on Oct. 25 before Tuesday's loss. They have scored at least 127 in all three games. The Clippers have been more modest on offense. They beat Denver 122-110 and Sacramento 121-96, then lost 108-101 at Oklahoma City on Sunday. That is a 101-point output against a Lakers team that has been scoring in the 130s. Deadspin's headline says the Clippers want a "full-game performance." That fits a team that has scored less and now faces a high-scoring opponent.
| Team | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Away | Strk | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 1 | .667 | – | 1-1 | 1-0 | L1 | +24 | |
| 1 | 1 | .500 | 0.5 | 1-0 | 0-1 | L1 | +18 | |
| 1 | 2 | .333 | 1 | 1-0 | 0-2 | L1 | -43 | |
| 1 | 2 | .333 | 1 | 0-0 | 1-2 | W1 | -11 | |
| 0 | 3 | .000 | 2 | 0-1 | 0-2 | L3 | -63 |
The schedule is tight for both teams. Both play again Friday, Oct. 30. The Lakers are at Golden State and the Clippers are at Minnesota.
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