Battle Los Angeles is about to go down this Wednesday when the Los Angeles Lakers “pays” the L.A. Clippers a visit for both teams’ last game of the season. Which Los Angeles team will come away with a victory before heading to an early vacation?
LaVar Ball’s promise that his son, Lonzo, would lead the Lakers to the playoffs is not coming true. Heck, his first born night not even be there on the floor to spearhead the Lakers against the Clippers. Ball suffered a knee contusion late last month, which has led him to miss games. If he can’t give it a go for the regular season finale, the Lakers will have to give ample minutes to Tyler Ennis and Alex Caruso, who have been sharing point guard minutes in Ball’s absence. Apart from Ball, the Lakers could also be without Brandon Ingram (concussion) and Kyle Kuzma (ankle). In case both Ingram and Kuzma will be out, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope will likely have a lion’s share of touches, meaning he can go Kobe Bryant-wild on his shots against the Clippers. Pope has averaged just 13.7 points in three games against the Clippers this season, but went off for 29 points in a 120-115 loss to the Clippers on Nov. 27. The Lakers are 5-5 ATS in their last 10 road games.
The Clippers came close to joining the playoffs but fell short of that goal. That said, Doc Rivers and his boys did an admirable job of being competitive despite all the challenges the team have gone through. A win this Wednesday would be a sweet ending to the Clippers’ season. Interestingly enough, the Clippers have not lost a game against the Lakers when they are the designated home team dating back to 2013. The Clippers are 11-0 SU and 8-3 ATS over that stretch, including their aforementioned win over the Lakers in November. Lou Williams has put up 25.7 points against his former team in three meetings with the Lakers this season, while DeAndre Jordan has managed 11.7 points and 16.3 rebounds in those contests. As a team, the Clippers have averaged 116.3 points on 45.0 field goal percentage against the Lakers this season.
