After losing on opening night to the Golden State Warriors, 123-109, the Los Angeles Lakers looked to bounce back on Thursday versus the Los Angeles Clippers.
In some ways, the Lakers played a better game on Thursday. They held a very talented Clippers squad to 103 points and 31% shooting from 3-point range.
Paul George, part of the Clippers’ star duo, went 4-of-12 from the field and scored 15 points.
However, the Lakers came up short, mostly because they shot 20% from 3-point range, just as they did versus Golden State.
But guard Lonnie Walker IV said there was optimism in the locker room following the contest.
Via Lakers Nation:
“We’re right there,” Walker said following the Lakers’ six-point loss. “I think even though we lost today, there was a bit of optimism in the locker room. We’ve only been playing together for a few weeks and our last two teams that we played against have been playing together for the last 4-5 years. So that speaks a lot of volume to how we’ve been playing. We just got to continue to stack the days and trust in the system, trust in our teammates and play the way we play.”
Walker had a very strong outing on Thursday, scoring 26 points and adding three assists and two steals. His ability to get points in bunches, especially in transition, will be a big key for an L.A. team that lacks talent outside of its three stars.
Other than LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook, the Lakers have basically an entirely new team, which means fans will simply have to be patient to allow them to develop chemistry and cohesion.
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