The Los Angeles Clippers’ Year From Hell got a bit of a (possibly temporary) reprieve on Saturday, when the club roundly defeated its superior crosstown big brother, the Los Angeles Lakers, 103-88.
Admittedly, LA was down three of its regular starters at tipoff and four by the start of the second half.
Rui Hachimura was a late addition to the Lakers’ injury report thanks to a sore right adductor. Normal starting center Deandre Ayton sat out with a sore left elbow, starting guard Austin Reaves is set to miss potentially multiple weeks with a left calf strain, and eighth man Gabe Vincent remains shelved with a sore low back.
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Five-time All-NBA First Team guard Luka Doncic was ruled out for the second half of the contest with a left leg contusion. Second-year forward Dalton Knecht started in his stead. Beyond normal starter LeBron James, the second-half starting lineup included normal reserves Knecht, three-time All-Defensive guard Marcus Smart, forward Jake LaRavia, and center Jaxson Hayes.
The Clippers, meanwhile, had their own mid-game injury, when All-Defensive center Ivica Zubac also was ruled out after the first half. Former All-Star center Brook Lopez started in his stead.
The Clippers were also without several key players of their own heading into the contest, as former three-time All-Star shooting guard Bradley Beal, LA’s starting two at the start of the season, is done for the year with a hip tear. Wing Derrick Jones Jr. remains unavailable due to a sprained right knee.
Former six-time All-Star Clippers small forward Kawhi Leonard had a prolific-if-inefficient 32-point, 12-rebound double-double, connecting on a lackluster 8-of-24 shooting from the field (4-of-12 from distance) but a solid 12-of-12 shooting from the foul line. Forward John Collins notched a 17-point, 12-board double-double, while 11-time All-Star point guard James Harden logged a 21-point, 10-assist double-double of his own, albeit while going just 6-of-20 from the floor.
Despite enjoying a solid night of capitalizing on the Lakers’ absences while playing at home, the Clippers’ overall season remains a mess. At just 7-21, the team is five games behind even the 12-16 Portland Trail Blazers for the No. 10 seed, the final spot in the Western Conference’s play-in tournament bracket.
It’s understandable, then, that most of the Clippers’ current roster could be for sale on the trade market.
Per Marc Stein of The Line, even hometown hero Harden might be on the move. He’s in the first season of a new two-year, $81.5 million deal he agreed to during the summer.
"One veteran executive read my recent item about James Harden’s potential availability between now and the Feb. 5 deadline and said his front office, to name at least one, indeed projects the NBA’s last American-born MVP (from the 2017-18 season) to wind up in trade play at some point this winter," Stein writes.
In games that don’t really matter, while leading a team headed nowhere, Harden has been at least putting up some video game numbers. How he’ll look on a legitimate contender remains to be seen.
In 26 healthy games, the 6-foot-5 Arizona State product, 36, has been averaging 25.8 points on .433/.373/.883 shooting splits, 8.2 assists and 5.2 rebounds a night.
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