The Los Angeles Clippers took the highly-anticipated season opener against the Los Angeles Lakers 112-102 back on Oct. 22. Since then, however, it is the Lakers who have been the more impressive of the two in-city rivals.
Until this week, that is.
LeBron James and company have lost two games in a row for the first time in this 2019-20 campaign, having fallen to Indiana on Tuesday and Milwaukee on Thursday to wrap up what had previously been a productive road trip (3-2 overall in five games). Moreover, LeBron is doubtful for Sunday’s contest against Denver due to a thoracic muscle strain (check out our free NBA expert picks for Lakers-Nuggets). According to sources, “thoracic muscle strain” is not code talk for “load management” and LeBron actually does have a minor injury in the rib area. The 34-year-old just this week gave a passionate interview expressing his disdain for “load management,” making a not-so-subtle jab at Clippers star Kawhi Leonard—the face of the load management movement.
Whatever the case, the Lakers have dropped two straight and now LeBron is less than 100 percent heading into tough games against the Nuggets and then none other than the Clippers on Christmas.
“If he doesn’t go (on Sunday) then we’ll need a group effort,” head coach Frank Vogel explained. “We’ll release starting lineups and all that stuff [Sunday], but it’s one of those things that no one person can pick up everything that LeBron does for our team; so just [has] to be a group effort.”
Make no mistake about it: just because the Lakers are struggling (by their lofty standards, at least) doesn’t mean the Clippers are automatically the best team in tinsel town. They are not exactly setting the world on fire right now, either. Head coach Doc Rivers’ squad is 2-2 in its last four and blew a 16-point second-half lead against Houston at home on Thursday. The Rockets dominated the third quarter by a 36-18 margin and eventually prevailed 122-117.
“We had a chance to knock them out and we didn’t,” Rivers admitted. “In the fourth quarter our problem was more of our composure. I just thought we lost it as a team. It happens; it shouldn’t, but this is a good learning lesson for us.”
We will find out sooner rather than later if the Clippers learned their lesson. They bounced back with a 134-109 blowout win at San Antonio on Saturday and will return to the court for Sunday’s date at Oklahoma City with a 22-9 record in hand, good for second in the Western Conference—three games behind the Lakers.
Will Kawhi manage his load on Sunday given that it is the second game of a back-to-back and the Lakers up next? It sounds like he will. Injuries or not, both superstars should be well-rested for Christmas…when we may find out which team is truly the best in the West.
