LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the Los Angeles Lakers are looking for a better performance than they had in their opener against their crosstown rivals, Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers. For the first time this season, the Lakers will get a look at the Clippers with both Leonard and fellow star forward Paul George, who was recovering from shoulder surgery at the time of the Oct. 22 opener.
Both teams are also coming off of losses, with the Lakers coming into Wednesday’s Christmas Night showdown having lost three straight games for the first time this season. It will also be interesting to see how the Lakers adjust their strategy or how much they adjust at all from their last meeting.
With the Clippers length across every position, they can disrupt passing lanes better than most teams. This often leads teams to abandon their traditional offense, but the good news for the Lakers is that they aren’t a traditional offense. They just need to find a little bit more balance than they did in the opener.
The Lakers posted up 27 times in the first meeting, which was probably a little overkill. The Lakers post up more than every team in the league except San Antonio according to Synergy Sports and they do it at the second-most efficient mark in the league. It will be a part of their strategy and perhaps a heavy part of it against the Clippers. But they do need to get more out of their perimeter players if they are going to win.
Danny Green had his highest-scoring game of the season in the opener but the Lakers had basically no other help at guard, in part due to choices made by Frank Vogel. Alex Caruso was out of the rotation to start the season and he’s become a crucial role player for the Lakers while Rajon Rondo was also injured in the opener.
The Lakers are an unconventional team and that has served them very well this season. But having a little bit better guard play as well as better play from their centers than they got in the opener will be crucial to evening their season series with the Clippers.
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