Lakers vs Clippers NBA Handicapping
There’s still plenty of glitter, but tonight’s Lakers-Clippers strut could have been so much more had these two teams not hit a few icy patches in late December and early January.
Los Angeles Lakers (15-16) at Los Angeles Clippers (25-8)
Friday, Jan. 4
Staples Center, Los Angeles
10:30 p.m. EST
Spread – Clippers -4.5
O/U – 205.5 at SportsBettingOnline.ag
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Had they not run low on gas, the Clippers could be headed into tonight with 19 straight victories and perhaps taking aim at the Lakers’ 1972 NBA record of 33 victories in a row.
Road losses at Denver and Golden State put a small dent in the NBA’s new Lamborghini, however.
The Lakers have had a nice run of their own interrupted. That win over the Knicks on Christmas Day was the 5th straight for Kobe and his cast, but then they couldn’t stay airborne, losing at Denver (those pesky Nuggets!) and later crashing and burning at home against the mediocre 76ers.
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Now both teams will be trying to piece things together as they meet for the second time this season. The Clippers won by 10 way back on Nov. 2 in a game that for the first time indicated that there might be a changing of the guard at Staples Center this season. Chris Paul went off for 18 and 15 in that one, and Jamal Crawford had 21 off the bench for the Clips.
Bryant threw in an angry 40, but the Lakers got next to nothing from its bench, fell behind early and never recovered.
Hard to imagine on a team that has Bryant, Dwight Howard and Steve Nash, but the Lakers would not be in the playoff mix if they were to start today.[ad-6571516]
Nobody thinks they’ll be golfing in mid-April, but there are plenty of warning signs, not the least of which is Bryant’s lament that the team is losing because it’s old. It’s hard to fix old.
Maybe Bryant is on to something. Nash is 37, Bryant himself 34 and Pau Gasol is 32. Dwight Howard is only 27 but has been having trouble getting comfortable, and may be holding back to stay healthy as he heads into free agency and a big payday this June.
To get fresh legs into the game, Laker coach Mike D’Antoni is bringing Metta World Peace off the bench and starting 21-year-old Darius Morris at the 2, Bryant moving to the 3.
As for the Clippers, the concern now is paying attention to details on a nightly basis and avoiding mental lapses. There’s no crime in losing on the road to an up-and-coming hungry team like the Warriors, but the new Showtimers need to be ready to play from the opening gun – they fell behind GS in the first period and never recovered.
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For fans in the East, this is one of the few NBA games worth staying up past midnight. Neither team will be mailing this one in, and even Howard should be somewhat focused.
Looking for a game that stays close deep into the fourth period, with a Laker cover.
