Los Angeles had a Friday night basketball game that had absolutely everything a dominant first quarter, a blown 16-point lead, a star leaving injured, a last-second heist attempt, and LeBron James standing between the Clippers and a miracle. In the end, the Lakers escaped with a 125-122 victory, and the city’s other team is left hoping the injury news stays minor.
Luka Dončić was the story for the Lakers, delivering 38 points and 11 assists in the kind of performance that reminds everyone why he was acquired in the first place. But the game’s most consequential moment may have been Kawhi Leonard limping off the floor with five minutes left in the fourth quarter due to left ankle soreness with the Clippers trailing by just three points at the time.
The Kawhi situation
Leonard had been exceptional before his exit, posting 31 points, five assists, and four rebounds in 31 minutes against his former team. Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue indicated after the game that Leonard has been managing ankle soreness for some time and that it simply stiffened up on him during the fourth quarter. The timing couldn’t have been worse. The Clippers were very much in the game, and losing their best player at the most critical juncture removed a significant piece from an already delicate equation.
How serious the ankle issue turns out to be will define a lot about how the Clippers close out the regular season. Los Angeles entered Friday as one of the NBA’s quieter success stories winners of 21 of their last 28 games after bottoming out on Dec. 19. They came into this game with a chance to reach .500 on the season. Instead, they sit at 27-29 and still fighting for play-in tournament positioning, with their franchise cornerstone nursing a nagging injury.
How the Lakers almost gave it away
The Lakers’ path to victory was anything but clean. They opened the game in extraordinary fashion, making 16 of 19 shots in the first quarter and building a 16-point lead that felt like the makings of a comfortable win. Then, as has occasionally been the Lakers’ habit this season, the lead evaporated. The Clippers clawed all the way back, and the game came down to the final seconds.
With 9.7 seconds remaining and the Clippers down three, Los Angeles managed to steal the inbound pass an electric, desperate moment that gave the home crowd reason to believe. The ball found Nicholas Batum in position for a potential game-tying three-pointer. The shot missed. LeBron James pulled down the rebound, and the Lakers survived.
James finished with 13 points and 11 assists, operating as the engine while Dončić and Austin Reaves handled the heavy scoring. Reaves was outstanding in his first game back without a minutes restriction after returning from a calf injury, putting up 29 points on 9-of-15 shooting. The Clippers’ Bennedict Mathurin had a strong night of his own with 26 points before fouling out late, removing another key piece alongside Leonard.
The trio that finally played together
One of the quieter but more significant developments Friday was simply that James, Dončić, and Reaves shared the floor together for a meaningful game. The three have played just 11 games together all season due to various injuries and absences. As a first step toward building real chemistry with the playoffs approaching, a win even an ugly one is more valuable than a loss where everything goes smoothly.
Lue wasn’t entirely gracious in defeat, taking pointed issue with how the Lakers operated offensively throughout the night suggesting their approach to drawing fouls made the game considerably more difficult to manage defensively. It’s the kind of postgame commentary that adds a little spice to what is already a rivalry with natural friction.
For the Lakers, it’s a win. For the Clippers, it’s a loss wrapped in an injury scare that needs monitoring. The battle for LA had a decisive result Friday but the subplot around Leonard’s ankle could matter far more before the season is over.
