Skip to main content

Despite being down their top talent, the LA Clippers have had absolutely no issue with the Los Angeles Lakers this season. Now clinching the season series with three-straight wins over their hallway rivals this year, the Clippers will have the tiebreak over the Lakers should their records be identical at season's end. Because of this element, Friday night's game was huge. Despite that, Ty Lue wasn't concerned about the Lakers.

When asked about preparing for a big game like this, coach Lue said that "We didn't even prepare for them. We just worked on ourselves." Terance Mann confirmed that, and said, "We really did just work on ourselves." When asked if they prepared for LeBron James, Mann said, "We didn't talk about that."

The Clippers are 3-0 against the Lakers this season, with Kawhi Leonard missing each game, Paul George the last two, and newly acquired swingman Norman Powell missing this most recent matchup as well. While the Lakers have not been fully healthy either, they have had one or both of LeBron James and Anthony Davis for each of these three contests.

The Clippers are now 2.5 games up on the Lakers in the standings, and with the tiebreaker, it would take a pretty poor finish for the Clippers and a pretty strong finish for the Lakers in order for their places in the standings to switch. A play-in matchup between the two teams is still possible, whether in the first play-in game or the second; however, for now, the Clippers aren't concerned about this matchup. 

Damian Lillard Opens Up About Steph Curry, Point Guard Debate

Injury Update: Kawhi Leonard Says He Feels 'A Lot Better'

Joel Embiid Reveals When He Last Spoke to Ben Simmons