When one all-timer isn't enough
The Lakers lost 103-88 to the Clippers on Sunday, and honestly, that scoreline doesn't even tell the full story of how comprehensively they got outplayed. LeBron James finished with 36 points on 15-of-28 shooting. That's the kind of performance that wins ballgames against normal teams. Against the Clippers, it was just a consolation prize.
This is what it looks like when one guy plays his heart out and literally everyone else forgets how basketball works. The Lakers missed their first seven consecutive shots. Not contested shots. Not difficult shots. Shots where the rim might as well have been made of concrete. Four minutes into a game they needed to win, and LeBron was the only Lakers player on the floor who understood the assignment.
The Clippers actually showed up for once
Let's talk about what went right for LA's other team—because for once, something actually did. The Clippers came in having won exactly one of their previous eleven games. That's not a slump. That's a crisis. But against the Lakers, Tyronn Lue's crew looked like a team that remembered they had James Harden and Kawhi Leonard on the roster.
Harden (21 points, 10 assists, 4 rebounds) didn't explode for a huge scoring night, but he did something more valuable in that first quarter: he got everyone else involved. The ball moved. There was actual spacing. The Clippers jumped out to a 9-0 run and never looked back. This is the Harden people forget about—not always the one launching 15 threes, but the orchestrator who makes his teammates better.
And then there's Kawhi. Thirty-two points, 12 rebounds, 3 steals. He was methodical, relentless, and completely unguardable. While the Lakers' perimeter defense was scrambling (missing Austin Reaves in the lineup didn't help), Leonard was hitting tough threes, attacking downhill, and just doing Kawhi things. By halftime, the Clippers led 54-39. The game was already over.
The Lakers' role players were a disaster
Here's the brutal truth nobody wants to say: LeBron's teammates aren't good enough right now. Dalton Knecht took an airball three early. Brook Lopez came in shooting threes and missing them. The Lakers' entire starting lineup outside of LeBron combined for absolute nothing in stretches. When your All-Star has to shoot 28 times just to get to 36 points and you still lose by 15, your roster construction has problems.
Even in the fourth quarter, when the Lakers mounted a brief comeback—Marcus Smart making his free throws, LeBron connecting on a four-point play—they never got closer than nine. The Clippers didn't panic. They didn't crack. John Collins and Harden added timely threes, and it was done.
Injury concerns cloud the victory
The Clippers won 103-88, their first win in five games, but they lost Ivica Zubac to an ankle injury in the first quarter. The Croatian big man rolled it on an unfortunate landing and never returned. Brook Lopez filled in with 11 points and some decent floor time, but losing your center at any point isn't ideal. The Lakers also lost Luka Doncic to a leg issue in the second half—another blow they didn't need.
Still, when you're down to LeBron James trying to will his team to victory and nobody else can convert open looks, the Clippers are going to win convincingly every time. This was less about the Clippers being brilliant and more about the Lakers being broken.