The Los Angeles Clippers dominated in all of the hustle categories for the majority of the night. They killed the Los Angeles Lakers on the boards (47-36), grabbed what seemed like every offensive rebound and loose ball. The Clippers led for the entire game and had that lead reach as much as 19 points against the Lakers.
Somehow, the Clippers found themselves in ball game late in the 4th quarter.
The Lakers got within 2 points after a Kobe Bryant jumper at the top of the key with 1:29 remaining. That’s the closest that the Lakers would get.
Chris Paul put all hopes of a great Lakers come back to bed when he hit a jumper over Kobe Bryant with 0.19 seconds remaining.
Clippers beat the Lakers for the 2nd time this season, 107-102.
Chris Paul led the way for the Clippers with 30 points and 13 assists.
Kobe Bryant was again spectacular offensively Friday Night; he ended the night with 38 points and added 5 steals.
Lakers had gone on a 12-1 scoring run to get the Clippers lead down to 8 early in the 4th quarter. Chris Paul answered the Lakers surge with a big 3 pointer that extended the lead back to 11 with about 6 minutes to play.
Jodie Meeks hit 2 free throws with 2:35 to play to cut the lead to 6.
Dwight Howard hit 2 clutch free throws at the 2:09 mark to cut the Clippers lead to 4.
Dwight Howard fouled out at the 1:07 mark in the 4th quarter. He finished the night with 21 points and 15 rebounds.
The Lakers score the first 7 points coming out of the half and get the Clippers lead down to 3 prompting the Clippers to call a timeout. Following the time out the Clippers quickly recaptured the momentum by going on a 9-0 run and extending the lead to 13 points. The Clippers were the more aggressive team in the quarter getting seemingly every loose ball and killing the Lakers on the board. The Clippers lead the Lakers at the end the 3rd quarter 87-71.
The Clippers started to pull away in the 2nd quarter with a 10-0 run, going up by as many as 18 points. Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash returned at the 7:39 mark in the 2nd quarter and fueled an 11-0 run to get the Lakers back in the game. The Lakers were able to get the lead down to as little as 4. However, the Clippers closed out strong and went into halftime ahead 61-51.
Kobe showed a little of his old young self with a full court break after a steal and big dunk on CP3 who made the error of thinking Kobe no longer had the legs to put one down. Chris Paul was getting players involved early with 7 1st quarter assists. The Clippers led 29-22 after the 1st quarter.
– Fern Rea “@fullcourtfern”
Raining3s 