After scoring their most impressive win of the season on Friday night against the league-leading Milwaukee Bucks, the Los Angeles Lakers will get a shot to score their first win of the season against the crosstown rival Los Angeles Clippers, who bested them in both the Christmas Day game and their opening night match-up.
And in the case of both losses for the Lakers against the Clippers, the Lakers two stars didn’t do enough to set themselves apart as the best duo between the two L.A. teams in either of the first two matchups. LeBron James, in particular, has played well below his elite standards. In two games so far against the Clippers, James has gone 16 for 43 (37.2) from the field overall as Kawhi Leonard, Patrick Beverley and the entirety of the Clippers defense have made things hard on him.
The Clippers’ ability to switch everything has disrupted the Lakers pick and roll game quite a bit and when the Lakers post-up, they haven’t been as efficient as they’ve needed to be. Anthony Davis hasn’t been that much better than LeBron offensively, going 16 for 38 (42 percent) over the two games.
And on the flip side, can the Lakers do anything to slow down Kawhi Leonard? In the two games they’ve played, Leonard has been lights out against whoever has guarded him. Leonard is 21 for 38 against the Lakers so far this season and if the Lakers can’t do anything slow him down, they may once again find themselves on the wrong side of a close game against their Staples Center neighbors.
