In one of the cruelest losses of their season, the Los Angeles Lakers lost to their neighbors the Los Angeles Clippers after Reggie Jackson made a basket with 4.1 seconds left and Anthony Davis narrowly missed the game-winning shot at the buzzer. for those in purple and gold (111-110).
The end was very painful for a Lakers in need of joy (they have only won 4 of their last 10 games) and who managed to take the lead in the last 30 seconds after trailing by 17 in the third quarter.
Together with Reggie Jackson, the Lakers’ executioner with 10 points in the fourth quarter (25 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists in total), these Clippers experts in tight finishes survived their neighbors and rivals thanks to Marcus Morris (29 points and 7 rebounds) and the best performance so far this season by Spaniard Serge Ibaka (20 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks in 34 minutes as a starter).
A tireless Anthony Davis (30 points and 17 rebounds) led the Lakers in which Malik Monk (21 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists) and Russell Westbrook (17 points and 6 rebounds) were crucial in the valuable but insufficient final reaction.
Face to face, Ibaka-Davis
In a lackluster and unremarkable start for both teams, Serge Ibaka, starting in place of the absent Ivica Zubac, emerged with talent in the inside game to score 6 points (11-7 with 7.03 to go).
Marcus Morris took over from Ibaka as the Clippers’ offensive beacon, but the Lakers recovered by resorting to Anthony Davis (8 points in the first quarter) and dominating the rebound with authority (8-13).
Clippers and Lakers received bad news in the paint as Anthony Davis and Isaiah Hartenstein added two fouls before ending the first quarter (28-26).
Two triples by Carmelo Anthony, one more by Austin Reaves and an additional basket by Dwight Howard put the Lakers ahead (36-40 with 8:25 to rest).
Ibaka returned to the track to fight Davis in the area, but he also stood out in attack with several counterattacks that exposed the poor defensive balance of the Lakers (55-51 with 1.32 to go).
The Clippers went to the locker room with an advantage (60-54) thanks to their fantastic success in shooting two (21 of 32) and after an interesting pivot duel between Ibaka (14 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists) and Davis (15 points, 7 rebounds and an assist).
Jackson with the last word
Nothing changed for the Clippers in the second half, who, letting Ibaka and Morris take their lead, surpassed the 10-point lead barrier for the first time (71-60 with 9.05 to go).
The base had gone unnoticed in the first half, but after the break he began to wriggle on the court and shine in the triple to add 11 points in just over 6 minutes that threatened to knock out the Lakers (82-67 with 5.26 in the clock).
In front of them, the Clippers greased their artillery from the triple (6 of 10 in the third quarter) and with Morris (13 points in that quarter) and Jackson (12) in front they were in a good situation before the final quarter (94 -82).
Reaves led the way with a great dunk, the Lakers strengthened their defense to leave the Clippers scoreless in the first three minutes, and Westbrook rose to sign up for the epic with 6 straight points (94-90 with 8.41 left) .
They saw the comeback so close that nerves played a trick on the Lakers against a Clippers backed by Jackson and Morris (104-100 with 1.46 to go).
Monk scored 6 points in a row to complete the feat (106-108 with 28.1 seconds left), but in the end Jackson shattered the Lakers’ hopes.
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Reggie Jackson and the Clippers sink the Lakers in the end