As soon as the house metropolis of the Los Angeles Lakers for 32 seasons and 6 NBA championships, the group returns to Inglewood, Calif., on Sunday, this time because the customer.
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The Lakers will journey down the freeway to the brand new dwelling of the Los Angeles Clippers, who constructed a $2 billion venue a mere mile away from The Discussion board, the outdated dwelling of their in-town rival.
The sport additionally marks the primary of 4 matchups between the groups this season, all of which is able to wrap up by March 2.
The Lakers enter after consecutive victories, the latest of which was a 102-101 nail-biter over the visiting Brooklyn Nets that got here as star Anthony Davis watched from the bench whereas coping with plantar fasciitis.
The Lakers practically blew an eight-point lead with 3:45 remaining however held on as Austin Reaves scored a career-high 38 factors, with 15 coming within the remaining quarter. LeBron James added 29 factors with eight assists.
Lakers head coach JJ Redick expects Davis to return to the courtroom Sunday.
Reaves wasn’t simply stepping as much as fill the Davis scoring void, he has taken on the next profile position within the offense for a month, throughout a time when level guard D’Angelo Russell was traded to the Nets on Dec. 29.
“He’s in his process and he’s taking the opportunity and running with it, literally running with it,” James mentioned about Reaves. “And I love every moment that he’s given the opportunity to go out and showcase his talent with the best players in the world, and he’s showing every night that he belongs. It’s a beautiful thing to see.”
The Clippers are on a three-game successful streak that included a rousing 126-67 victory over the Nets on Wednesday. Brooklyn then rotated and practically beat the Lakers.
Most lately, the Clippers earned a 118-89 street victory over the Portland Path Blazers on Thursday when Norman Powell scored 23 factors, James Harden added 19 and the group shot 56.4 p.c from the ground, together with 43.5 p.c from 3-point vary.
Kawhi Leonard has performed in 4 video games this season since getting back from power knee discomfort, however didn’t play at Portland on the second night time of a back-to-back. He did have a season-best 23 factors in opposition to the Nets on 8-of-11 capturing.
Leonard is predicted to face the Lakers after taking part in a season-high 24 minutes on Wednesday and getting course from head coach Tyronn Lue to imagine a much bigger a part of the offense.
“It felt good, but like I said before, I’m taking my time,” Leonard mentioned. “Just because I made shots doesn’t mean , to me at least. It’s about how I’m moving and feeling.
“We pushed my minutes up from the final three so tonight I used to be in a position to play 24 minutes. allowed me to convey the ball up and get us into the tempo of the offense. I believed that helped a little bit bit.”
The Clippers at the moment are set to play 4 video games in 5 nights, with a fast turnaround to face the Chicago Bulls on Monday earlier than video games in opposition to the Boston Celtics on Wednesday and the Washington Wizards on Thursday. All 4 video games are at dwelling, the place the group is 14-6.
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