The Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers have been singing a better tune of late and will hit the stage opposite each other Tuesday in their second-to-last meeting as co-tenants in their downtown arena.
Both teams can also discuss their travel plans as they prepare for extended road trips with the Grammy Awards soon taking over Crypto.com Arena for two weeks of stage building, rehearsals and the annual lavish ceremony.
The Clippers have been going places of late — and not just because they also will move into a new arena in nearby Inglewood next season. They have won 19 of their past 23 games to emerge as one of the top teams in the Western Conference.
Their most recent victory came against the Brooklyn Nets at home on Sunday as the Clippers closed on a 22-0 run to win 125-114.
The Clippers have been thriving since James Harden, who was acquired in early November, replaced Russell Westbrook in the starting lineup, but both players put on a show Sunday. Harden had 24 points and 10 assists, while Westbrook added 23 points, nine rebounds and six assists off the bench.
The Clippers trailed 16-0 and were down as many as 18 in the second half before winning on a night when Kawhi Leonard and Paul George struggled to get going early.
Without starting center Ivica Zubac, who is sidelined for a month due to a calf injury, the Clippers went with a small lineup late and rattled the Nets.
“My energy is a huge part of my game and what I can bring to this team every night,” Westbrook said. “I tried to use my energy to be able to make an impact on the game, whether it’s offensively, defensively, whatever’s needed for our team.”
Said Harden: “When we are engaged, doing the things necessary to guard and get stops, we are an extremely unbeatable team.”
The Lakers have found some success since returning to their season-opening backcourt of Austin Reaves and D’Angelo Russell.
In a 134-110 victory over the visiting Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday, Russell scored a game-high 34 points, sank six 3-pointers and dished out eight assists.
“He’s playing free, he’s being D-Lo,” Lakers forward Anthony Davis said. “We know how good of a scorer he is. He’s been scoring at an elite level, shooting the ball well, making the right plays, making the right reads and doing everything that he’s supposed to be doing to help us get wins.”
Reaves recovered from an 0-for-6 performance from 3-point range in a loss to the Nets on Friday to make three from long range and score 15 points on Sunday.
“We wanted to try to play better than we did (Friday), be better offensively,” Lakers star LeBron James said. “Not turn the ball over, not allow second-chance points and then be very efficient offensively. And we executed that for 48 minutes.”
After some pronounced struggles throughout the second half of December, the Lakers have won five of their past eight games. That includes a 106-103 victory over the Clippers on Jan. 7 that made the Lakers 2-0 this season against their in-building rival.
–Field Level Media