The Los Angeles Lakers will receive their rings and hang another banner in the Staples Center on Tuesday night when they host the Los Angeles Clippers. That will certainly feel like rubbing salt in the wound for the Clippers, as they have never won an NBA title and fell short as the favorite to win it all last year. These are the two Western Conference favorites again in 2020-21, so the road to the NBA Finals is likely to go through Los Angeles.
This will be the second game of a TNT doubleheader on Tuesday, December 22, at 10 p.m. ET.
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Injury Report
Despite the deep runs the Lakers and Clippers made last year, neither team is very injured coming into this season. Alex Caruso is dealing with an injury that makes him day-to-day for the Lakers, while Marcus Morris Jr. is also considered day-to-day for the Clips.
Game Preview
After winning the NBA title last year, the Lakers didn’t have much to improve in the offseason. This franchise has the best duo in the league in Anthony Davis and LeBron James, but they made some nice moves. Dennis Schroder was acquired from the Oklahoma City Thunder to give this team a guard that can hit open looks, while Marc Gasol and Montrezl Harrell will beef up the frontcourt.
There are a lot of interesting subplots as the Lakers’ Markieff Morris will face his twin brother Marcus Morris if both players are healthy, Montrezl Harrell will face his former team in the Clippers, and James will match up against Kawhi Leonard once again.
James is playing at an incredibly high level although he has been in the NBA for almost two decades. While the conversation regarding whether James or Michael Jordan is the GOAT will continue to rage on, there’s no doubt that LBJ is the best player of his generation.
We’ve seen James continually reinvent himself over his time in the league, and he did that again last season. He took a step back from being the primary scorer with Anthony Davis in the lineup. Instead, he focused on getting his teammates great looks, and that led to LBJ posting a career-high 10.2 APG.
Davis might be the most dominant low post player in the game today. He was a little better than LBJ last year, averaging 26.1 PPG and 9.3 RPG. Davis made 50.3 percent of his baskets and got to the free throw line 8.5 times a game, and he was a strong defender in the paint too.
Kawhi Leonard was unable to bring the Clippers a title like he did the Toronto Raptors the previous season. He played well though, stuffing the stat sheet to lead the Clippers in a lot of categories. Leonard is still one of the best defenders in the NBA, and he will draw the assignment of guarding James for much of the night.
The Paul George redemption tour starts here. George had a horrific playoff performance, leading to him being the butt of jokes across the nation. He shot less than 40 percent from the floor and missed a ton of wide-open looks. There’s no denying his talent though, and he will be itching to get back to the court and showcase his skills.
There was something wrong with the Clippers last year. There were a lot of chemistry issues and inner-team turmoil, so that led to the team replacing veteran head coach Doc Rivers. Former Lakers’ coach Tyronn Lue has taken over this year, adding another layer of drama to this game.
Prediction
The Lakers have won both preseason meetings, so let’s make it a third over the Clippers on Tuesday.
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