Recap: Lakers take down Clippers in foul-laden affair

Lakers Clippers
July 30, 2020; Lake Buena Vista, USA; LeBron James #23 and Anthony Davis #3 of the Los Angeles Lakers in a Black Lives Matter Shirt kneel with their teammates during the national anthem prior to the game against the LA Clippers at The Arena at ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex on July 30, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Mandatory Credit: Mike Ehrmann/Pool Photo via USA TODAY Sports

In the seeding games, this Lakers team has very little to play for: they have already clinched a playoff birth, and going into the restart, they only needed three wins to guarantee the first seed in their first playoff appearance since 2012-2013.

Sloppy play from both teams made for an underwhelming first game back, as the Lakers took the win with a final score of 103-101.

Refereeing was the story of the night as the two teams combined for 57 fouls with the Clippers having the most with 30.

Anthony Davis led the Lakers with 34 points and eight rebounds. The Clippers were led by Paul George who went 11 of 17 from the field and had 30 points.

Davis showed his early-season woes against the Clippers were not the trend for the entire season with a dominant performance, while LeBron struggled to get going in the game.

As happy as we all were to have the NBA back, the game was a little underwhelming for the feature game of the restart. However, there were a few impressive highlights from the game, as LeBron James showed he still has it with this dunk for his first two points of the game early in the second quarter.

Dion Waiters also showed off his skills for the Lakers in the restart with this beautiful spinning play to push the Lakers lead to eight at the time.

Waiters went 5-of-10 from the field with 11 points as well as three rebounds and two assists.

Prior to the game, Lakers coach Frank Vogel preached free-throw shooting and transition defense as something the team would focus on in the restart. The Lakers went 28 of 37 from the line and allowed very little transition opportunities.

The game went back and forth as neither team was able to pull too far ahead. The biggest lead for the Lakers was 13 and the Clippers led by as much as 11.

With the win, the Lakers move to 50-14 and the Clippers fall to 44-21. The season series between the two teams is over after this game and the Lakers salvaged a split against the crosstown rivals. The Lakers play next in the bubble on Saturday at 5:30 PST/8:30EST against the Raptors.

 

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