#Steeven.™ Posted April 4, 2021 Posted April 4, 2021 The champions, with 11 points from Marc Gasol and without LeBron, Davis or Drummond, sign their worst touchdown of the season The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Los Angeles Lakers (104-86) with absolute ease today, who without LeBron James and Anthony Davis once again demonstrated that they do not have the necessary weapons to face the best teams in the NBA. With their indisputable victory in the Los Angeles derby, the Clippers (33-18) consolidated in third place in the Western Conference and opened a gap precisely with the Lakers (31-19), who fell from fourth to fifth place behind for the Denver Nuggets (30-18). One more night, the Lakers sinned from a huge lack of ideas, resources, imagination and aggressiveness in attack. Their 86 points are the Lakers' lowest score in a game so far this season. Without Andre Drummond, who after making his debut last Wednesday has missed two games in a row due to injury, the top scorers for a poor performance by the Lakers were Montrezl Harrell (19 points) and Talen Horton-Tucker (16). Marc Gasol came out as the starting center and was one of the barely salvageable of his team: he achieved 11 points (4 of 7 in shots, 3 of 3 in triples), 3 rebounds, 2 assists, a block and a steal compared to 4 losses in 18 minutes. After the game against the Sacramento Kings on Friday (94-115 for the Lakers), the Spaniard admitted to the media that Drummond's arrival and his transfer to the bench is not something easy for him to assimilate. However, Gasol underscored his commitment to the Lakers project to try to win his second NBA ring in a row. As for the Clippers, in which Serge Ibaka has missed the last eleven games due to a back injury, the main references were Marcus Morris Sr. (22 points and 7 rebounds), Kawhi Leonard (19 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists) and Paul George (16 points and 7 rebounds). Ty Lue's team overwhelmingly beat the Lakers in the battle for the rebound (54 vs. 45) and in the hit from the line of three (50% vs. 30%). The veteran point guard Rajon Rondo, who in the "bubble" was proclaimed NBA champion with the Lakers, debuted today with his neighbors and rivals the Clippers. BETWEEN BROTHERS One of the anecdotes that this game left was the duel as headlines between the twins Markieff Morris (Lakers) and Marcus Morris Sr. (Clippers). The brothers did not disappoint, as with 9 and 11 points, respectively, they were the top scorers for their teams in the first quarter. The Lakers entered the game completely asleep and, by the time they wanted to wake up after two minutes, they had to call a timeout after the Clippers made their first five shots (10-2). The delivery of Talen Horton-Tucker encouraged something to some very short-fang Lakers (27-20 after the first set). In the second quarter the disaster was consummated for the team led by Frank Vogel From the perimeter and penetration, Paul George punched over and over again the defense full of holes of the Lakers, who also exhibited a very worrying lack of success in attack. The Clippers reached the 20-point lead without breaking a sweat (50-30 with 3 minutes to go), but a triple by Alex Caruso and a basket on the brink of halftime by Dennis Schroder slightly made up the Lakers' mediocre first half (53- 38). Like someone who gets carried away on a downhill bike, the Lakers could not and did not know how to change the pace of the game at the restart, not even with two consecutive 3-pointers by Gasol. By then, the Clippers, with Leonard in command of operations, not only controlled the game at will but were already cherishing humiliating differences (77-55 after the third quarter). In a last set without any history, the Clippers did not draw blood at the end and the Lakers disguised a dismal performance thanks to late points from Montrezl Harrell and Talen Horton-Tucker. The Lakers will return to action on Tuesday against the Toronto Raptors, while the Clippers will meet the Portland Trail Blazers on the same day. 1
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