Lakers Survive Fourth Quarter Scare To Defeat Clippers

Slovenian music blared over the speakers, then Lakers star Luka Dončić delighted fans by draining a full-court, one-handed heave at the end of his pregame warmups.

It wasn’t necessarily a good omen, however. Dončić was a cold 8-21 from the field Friday night. The gritty Clippers letting the city know they are still in town with a tie game at halftime.

Then Austin Reaves caught fire.

In his second game since signing a 4-year, $180 million max contract, Reaves erupted for an efficient 13 points in the third quarter on 6-for-7 shooting.

It put the Lakers up by 13 points heading after three quarters— and after surviving nine turnovers in the final frame— teed the team up for a 125-117 win.

“I mean, he’s such a talented player,” center Walker Kessler said after the game. “Not only scoring, but I mean, how many assists you have? Nine.”

“I think that’s we just got some talented ball players. We got some winners on this team and just it was a great response in the second half from everybody.”

How did the Lakers’ big three do vs. Clippers

Reaves’ finished with a game-high 28 points on 77% shooting and was one assist shy of a double-double. But, he also had six turnovers.

Kessler continues to put himself in conversations with Lakers greats. He is eighth Laker in history to have six blocks, three steals in a game.

“It’s kind of crazy there’s already been seven guys that have done it before,” Kessler said. “There’s some absolute legends, you know, in the Lakers franchise. Definitely definitely an honor.”

Kessler also poured in 22 points (10-14) and eight rebounds. Dončić contributed 23 points on just 38% shooting with six rebounds and seven assists.

His 11 turnovers also serve as a clear point of emphasis to improve upon early in the season.

“Obviously, my game is terrible.” Dončić said. “But we are 2-0. Not playing a team great by me and AR. We have a lot of room left.”

What went wrong for the Clippers?

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The Clippers defense forced 21 Lakers turnovers, 11 coming from Dončić, which lead to 29 points. And should lead to a different end result.

The problem?

They turned it over 26 times themselves. That’s more than the Lakers forced in any game last year, half of which came via steals.

Rookie Keaton Wagler also cooled off after his historic debut on Wednesday. The guard went 2-for-8 from the field with four turnovers. He added three rebounds, three assists, and a steal to his stat line.

Darius Garland lead the Clippers with 26 points on 9-for-19 shooting and Brook Lopez tallied 22 points off the bench on an 8-for-9 night.

Who do the Lakers play next?

The Lakers will travel to Utah to face the Jazz on Sunday at 2 p.m. It’ll be a return trip for Kessler, who spent his first four NBA seasons with the Jazz.

“I’m so excited, you know, to compete against those guys,” Kessler said. “Coach Hardy does a great job with that franchise and all my past teammates, they’re great players, really talented, really competitive.”

Jake LaRavia, who missed Friday’s game with an ankle injury he suffered in Wednesday’s season opener, hopes to be back in the lineup, Redick said pregame. If not, LaRavia’s next chance would be Tuesday at home vs. the Trail Blazers.

Who do the Clippers play next?

The Clippers hit the road to face Oklahoma City on Sunday at 4 p.m. before hosting the Lakers at the Intuit Dome on Wednesday night. Tip off is set for 7:30 p.m. in the crosstown rivals’ second meeting of the season.