Los Angeles Clippers hand LeBron’s Lakers a frastrating third straight loss

LeBron James’ fading playoff hopes were dealt a serious blow as the Los Angeles Clippers handed the Los Angeles Lakers a third straight defeat.

Danilo Gallinari scored 23 points as the visiting Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 113-105 on Monday night for their third consecutive victory.

Lou Williams scored 21 points off the bench, and Montrezl Harrell added 14 points and 11 rebounds in a reserve role for the Clippers, who moved back into sole possession of seventh place in the Western Conference, a half-game behind the Utah Jazz and a half-game ahead of the San Antonio Spurs.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander also scored 14 points, and Patrick Beverley added 13 points, nine rebounds and five steals for the Clippers. Landry Shamet had 12 points.

Rajon Rondo scored a season-high 24 points to go with 10 rebounds and 12 assists for his first triple-double with the Lakers. LeBron James finished with 27 points, eight rebounds and six assists, Josh Hart scored 17 off the bench.

LeBron James absorbs contact in the paint against the Los Angeles Clippers

Brandon Ingram, third on the Lakers in scoring at 18.3 points, missed the game because of a sore right shoulder. Second-leading scorer Kyle Kuzma (18.9 points per game) scored 13 before leaving midway through the fourth quarter due to an injured right ankle.

The 10th-place Lakers, who have lost five of their past six, are five-and-a-half games behind the final Western Conference playoff spot.

The Lakers took an 82-79 lead on a three-point play by Hart with 2:55 left in the third quarter, but the Clippers came back with a 10-0 run to take their biggest lead to that point at 89-82 with 40.6 seconds left in the third.

The Clippers scored the first four points of the fourth quarter to take their first double-digit lead. The Lakers got as close as five with 7:57 left, but the Clippers scored the next eight points during a run in which Kuzma was also injured.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *