The Los Angeles Lakers bounced back from their first defeat of the season in style on Wednesday night, beating the Los Angeles Clippers 103-87 at Intuit Dome in Inglewood to complete a second win over their city rivals in a week.
The Lakers, who had lost 135-129 at home to the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday despite 41 points from Luka Doncic, produced a far more controlled performance on the second night of a back-to-back, pulling away after half-time to win by 16 points.
Lakers find their rhythm
The win improved the Lakers’ early-season record and underlined their depth, with the team sharing the scoring load rather than relying on another huge night from Doncic, who had scored 52 points in Utah on Sunday before his 41-point effort against Portland.
The Clippers, already short-handed, struggled to keep pace as the game wore on. They were without Brandon Ingram, who has undergone right heel surgery, Max Strus, who has a right plantar fascia tear, and Bradley Beal, who remains out with right knee injury management, while Rui Hachimura missed out with left quad soreness.
A rivalry with early-season meaning
Although it is only late October, the result mattered for both locker rooms. The Lakers had already beaten the Clippers 125-117 on October 23, and Wednesday’s win gave them an early 2-0 edge in the season series between the two teams who share a city but not an arena.
The Clippers will look to regroup quickly, with their injury list the defining story of their opening weeks. For the Lakers, the challenge now is consistency: two wins over the Clippers bookending a home defeat to Portland shows both the ceiling and the floor of this team in the season’s first fortnight.
Attention now turns to Friday night, when the Lakers travel to face the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center in one of the early season’s marquee matchups.
