The NBA Season in 2023/2024 welcomed the Battle of LA for the first time at Crypto.com Arena last night, and it was the the home team of Los Angeles Lakers who edged out their nemesis Los Angeles Clippers for their third victory in the opening five games of the new season. In that hard-earned 130-125 overtime victory in the first Battle of LA this year, the Big Three of the Lakers LeBron James, Antony Davis and D’Angelo Russell combined for an 89-point outing, leading the Purple and Gold to finally snap their embarrassing 11-game losing streak against Clippers.
Fiercest Battle of LA in Recent Times
Both Clippers and Lakers came into the first Battle of LA of the NBA Season with different aspirations. For Tyronn Lue’s side, they were looking for their 12th consecutive victory over their rivals and fourth win in 2023/2024 while Darvin Ham’s Lakers were hoping to snap the taunting losing streak in the Battle of LA and improve their record to a winning one in this game.
Clippers almost scored 40 points and established a resounding 37-24 lead in the first 12 minutes of this Battle of LA, thanks to forward Kawhi Leonard’s career-high in points in the first quarter of the game (18 points from 7-8 shooting and 4-5 from three-pointers). Nevertheless, as the Purple and Gold tighten up their defence in the following period, the visiting team and Kawhi found it hard to develop a larger lead into the second half, ending the opening quarters with a score line of 61-48 to the Clippers’ advantage.
With tensions beginning to rise in the next 24 minutes, Lakers rallied themselves back into the Battle of LA in Q3, outscoring their nemesis 39-24. Davis and Russell notched 24 of Lakers’ 39 points while none of the Clipper players were on double figures in the third quarter, allowing the home side to bring a slim two-point lead into the final quarter of the first Battle of LA in 2023/2024.
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LeBron, AD and DLo Dropped 89 Points in Lakers’ All-Important Victory
Both teams went back and forth in Q4, but a slight edge was given to the visiting Clippers, courtesy of Paul George’s late heroics. The former 10th overall pick by the Indiana Pacers dropped 20 points on a 6-8 shooting and 4-6 from threes as compared to LeBron‘s 12 points in the fourth quarter, helping his Clipper side to win the quarter 32-30 and forcing the game to overtime. It is worth noting that the overtime was the first for the Clippers in this 2023/2024 NBA Season, while Lakers had recently lost an overtime game against the Sacramento Kings earlier this week, meaning the latter was desperate not to commit a devastating extra-time defeat once again.
The score were tied at 119 apiece after almost 90 seconds in overtime, until Austin Reaves drew a three-point play and assisted James to extend Lakers’ lead to five. Leonard then capitalised on his and-one opportunity, before Reaves nailed another mid-range to restore the Lakers’ advantage. The two-time Finals MVP Kawhi went on to launch a long-ranged bomb beyond the arc with less than a minute to go, closing the gap to a single-point lead on the Purple and Gold, but that was as far as the Clippers could go in the game. Reeves would score a pair of shots from the charity spot, followed by Christian Wood’s putback dunk to secure the victory for the Lakers.
The high-flyers of this Battle of LA were none other than Leonard, George and James, who had 38, 35 points and 35 points in 41, 37 and 42 minutes respectively. These players were given the support by Westbrook (24 points in 44 minutes), Davis and Russell (27 points apiece in 48 and 36 minutes) in this Battle of LA, where the Clippers’ 11-game winning streak was snapped by the Lakers. Both Lakers and Clippers are now 3-2 in their first five matches of the season, and will be meeting the Orlando Magic and the New York Knicks next.
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July 30, 2020.
That was the last time the Lakers beat the Clippers. But that was also the year they won their 17th championship.
1,189 days later and 11 losses later: The Lakers finally beat the Clippers again.
2024 championship confirmed? 👀 pic.twitter.com/nloevrCaQg
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) November 2, 2023
Clippers to Postpone Harden’s Debut
The Clippers were without James Harden, who completed a blockbuster deal to join the Los Angeles side earlier this week, and the 34-year-old shooting guard was seen sitting on the Clipper bench in street clothes. The Harden deal of course saw P. J. Tucker, Filip Petrušev and himself being traded to the Clippers in exchange for Marcus Morris, Nic Batum, Robert Covington, Kenyon Martin Jr., the 2028 unprotected first-round pick, two second-round picks, a pick swap and an additional first-round pick from a third team to Harden’s former employers of the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Beard is expected to travel to New York and face the Knicks with the Clippers, as the LA side undergo their five-day break before a three-game road trip. You can read everything about the trade in the article that we have prepared for you here.
Warriors Beat Kings with Thompson’s Winner
Both teams from the Battle of LA are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference, which now has all five franchises who are capable of challenging for the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy at the end of the 2023/2024 NBA Season. In the other Pacific Division matchup, the Golden State Warriors managed to beat the Kings 102-101 after 48 minutes of playing time thanks to shooting guard Klay Thompson‘s game-winner. The 33-year-old five-time All-Star hit a mid-range when the Warriors were down 100-101 with 0.2 seconds remaining on the clock, thus sealing the win for the home team and improving their record to 4-1 this season.
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