April 07--The Clippers play the Lakers at Staples Center at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the second consecutive game between the L.A. teams. The Clippers have won 10 of their last 11 games against the Lakers, including the last six -- their longest winning streak in the rivalry.
In their 106-78 drubbing of the Lakers on Sunday, the Clippers led by as many as 43 points while holding the Lakers to the fewest points they've ever scored against the Clippers.
The Clippers are looking to sweep their season series for the second time in the last three seasons.
The Clippers (52-26), who are in fifth place in the Western Conference, are trying to secure home-court seeding in the playoffs. They are only 1 1/2 games behind the second-place Houston Rockets with four games left in the regular season.
The Lakers (20-56) are in second-to-last place in the West and out of playoff contention.
The Clippers have won their last six games against the Lakers by an average of 26.6 points, including a 142-94 win on March 6 of last year that was the Lakers' worst loss in franchise history.
After Sunday's game, Clippers Coach Doc Rivers pointed out that still has Shaq-sized footprints to fill in the rivalry because the Lakers have won 16 NBA championships, while the Clippers have never made it past the second round of the playoffs.
Rivers went on to acknowledge that even though the recent games have been heavily tilted in the Clippers' favor, there's still something special about playing the Lakers.
"I don't know what it is, but it's just like playing your high school [rival]," Rivers said Sunday. "It's a rivalry, you know. It is, but it's not. But you know each other. Whenever you know each other, you know the game has meaning."
