Lakers struggle offensively in loss to the rival Clippers, dropping them to 5th in the West.
The shorthanded Lakers two-game win streak came to an end tonight after falling to the rival Clippers 104–86, moving their record to 31–19. The Lakers failed to reach 100 points for the 11th time this season and scored a season-low of 86 points in tonight’s loss. With tonight’s loss to the Clippers, the Lakers dropped to the 5th seed in the West, adding more pressure to the Lakers squad to stay afloat in the competitive Western Conference.
The Clippers had a hot night shooting from the field tonight shooting 50% from the three-point arc going 14 for 28 and 47.7% total from the field going 41 for 86. The Clippers starting lineup combined for 59 points compared to the Lakers starting unit which only combined for 42 points. Lakers head coach Frank Vogel spoke on tonight’s loss and offensive struggles:
“There’s no excuses here. The guys that are playing have what it takes to get the job done, it’s that simple.”
In tonight’s loss, the Lakers tied for their 2nd worst field goal percentage of the season going 32 for 80 (40%) total. The Lakers had a poor night from the three, barely cracking 30% going 7 for 23(30.4%) shooting from the perimeter.
Only three Lakers were able to score in double figures tonight with one of them coming from the starting lineup. Marc Gasol scored 11 points and added 3 rebounds on 4 of 7 (57.1%) shooting from the field. Starting guard Dennis Schröder struggled tonight going 3 for 12 (25%) from the field scoring only 8 points. Kyle Kuzma was another Laker in the lineup that struggled shooting 0 for 4 from the three and 2 for 10 (20%) overall scoring 6 points.
Despite the Lakers huge loss to the Clippers there were bright spots coming from the Lakers bench. The Lakers bench scored a game-high 44 points in tonight’s defeat with a bulk of the points coming from Montrezl Harrell and Talen Horton-Tucker.
20-year-old Talen Horton Tucker's role has increased all season having to step up for this shorthanded team and he has done an excellent job. In THT’s 25 minutes of action, he had 16 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals on 7 of 14 (50%) shooting from the field.
In 26 minutes, Montrezl Harrell scored a Laker high 19 points on 7 of 12 (58.3%) shooting against his former team. Harrell was able to grab 6 rebounds and get 2 blocks while going 5 for 6 (83.3%) from the free-throw line.
The Lakers will travel to Toronto to face the Raptors for the 2nd game of their 7 game road trip this Tuesday. The Raptors are currently 19–30 and battling to reach the 8th seed in the East. The Lakers will have their hands full against a young talented team this Tuesday as the Lakers look to get back in the win column.