BJ Mathews is a credential NBA creator covering the LA Clippers for thePeachBasket.net. He is also a host of the Pull Up! Basketball Podcast. In this article he shares concerns for the Clippers after LeBron leads rout in a big loss to the Lakers.
I asked LA Clippers head coach Ty Lue, postgame about the issue with the team’s offense and could iso ball be a reason for that, “Yea it can, with the spacing I think we aren’t getting enough spacing, and then playing with paste, we’ve talked about it all season long, and until we want to get right it’s going to be some tough times we have the blueprint to do it, in what we want to do, and we just aren’t doing it right now.”
In the 4th quarter with 4:33 left, Bronny James making his first three point shot in the NBA all season long meant everything went right for the Lakers, and everything went wrong for the Clippers. As the Lakers, completely ran away with the victory over the Clippers at Intuit Dome 122-97. Which ties the season series 1-1 amongst the respective teams.
The Clippers trailed 92-70 with 3:45 left in the third quarter and Clippers center Ivica Zubac and Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt got into a minor scuffle that had to be separated. The momentum fell in favor for the Lakers (30-19) and became out of reach for the Clippers (30-19) after that.
The Lakers are up 39-27 with 1:45 left in the 1st quarter, and Lebron James hits two three-point daggers to extend the lead 45-29 to end the quarter. He had 20 points in 6 assists to end the 1st half.
L. James led the Lakers with 26 points, 8 rebs, and 9 assists (8-13 from the field) Rui Hachimura and Austin Reaves tailed in 20 points each.
Norman Powell led the Clippers with 20 points followed by 17 points from Derrick Jones Jr., Kawhi Leonard (11 points) and James Harden (7 points) both had rough nights.
LeBron Leads Rout: Takeaways
Lakers: The Lakers seem to have found a defensive identity. Their gameplan was simple at the start of the game was to take Ivica Zubac out, and they were successful in doing so. With the length of defenders such as Jaxson Hayes, Rui Hachimura, and Jarred Vanderbilt they created serious problems for the Clippers to create offense in the half court. Also, the scoring and playmaking of Lebron James set the tone for their offense in the first half.
Clippers: The Clippers offensive struggles were very noticeable. Other than Norman Powell, it seemed as if no one could get to the rim, and the few times that they did their three-point shooting showed to be a weakness. Bottom line, the Clippers are ranked 23rd in the NBA offensively, and a huge reason for that is a lot of iso ball with players who are not strong iso ball players. The offensive scheming must change.
Key Moment
In the third quarter, a double technical foul was issued on Ivica Zubac and Jarred Vanderbilt that gave the Lakers the possession.
Key Stat
Kawhi Leonard and James Harden had a combined three points in the 1st half going 1-11 and 5 assists.
Up Next
LA Clippers continue their four-game homestand Wednesday against the Indiana Pacers while the LA Lakers go into a three-game homestand starting Thursday against the Golden State Warriors.
