Clippers handle Lakers easily, extending 11-game win streak vs. rivals

LOS ANGELES — There was nothing at stake when the Lakers and Clippers squared off Wednesday night at Crypto.com Arena. Nothing, that is, but an improved playoff seeding, the likelihood of avoiding the NBA’s dreaded play-in tournament and a possible change in Hallway Series fortunes.

By night’s end, this L.A. hoops story was a familiar one, with the Clippers taking their 11th consecutive victory over the Lakers, a 125-118 decision that kept them ahead of their erstwhile rivals. Kahwi Leonard’s dunk midway through the fourth quarter provided an exclamation point for the Clippers.

It also gave the fifth-place Clippers (42-38) a commanding 112-92 lead over the seventh-place Lakers (41-39), whose four-game winning streak would soon come to an end in what was a surprisingly routine result for the teams. The Clippers have won 36 of the past 43 over the Lakers.

“It was huge for us,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said of a start that included leads of 8-0 and 15-3, and was sparked by Russell Westbrook in his first game against his former team. “He and E.G. (Eric Gordon) gave us some really good offensive confidence to start the game.”

The Lakers played catch-up the rest of the way, leading only once, at 26-25 late in the first quarter. The Clippers fended off a determined flurry sparked by the Lakers’ LeBron James and Anthony Davis in the third quarter and then settled matters for good with a standout fourth quarter.

The mere presence of James and Davis in the Lakers’ starting lineup Wednesday underscored the significance of the game. It wasn’t really a must-win for either team, but a victory for either with only two regular-season games left certainly wouldn’t hurt their chances for a better seeding.

James scored 30 of his 33 points in the second half as the Lakers attempted to rally from an early double-digit deficit. Davis had 17 points and 11 rebounds. Apart from a brief run midway through the third quarter, they couldn’t get the Lakers where they needed to be, and the streak continued.

Norman Powell led the Clippers with 27 points in a reserve role, Leonard had 25, and Westbrook had 14. Westbrook had 10 points on 4-for-7 shooting in the first quarter, and Gordon had nine points on 3-for-5 shooting. The Clippers shot 15 for 26 (57.7%) in the opening quarter.

“We started off not playing Lakers basketball,” James said. “We had some good spurts, but not enough. This was one of those scheduling conflicts this season, and it definitely got the best of us (Wednesday night).”

The Lakers were road-weary, having taken an overtime victory over the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night in Salt Lake City, the final game on their four-game trek around the nation. By contrast, the Clippers were well rested, having been idle since losing Saturday to the New Orleans Pelicans.

James, whose minutes have been managed since he returned from a four-week layoff because of a foot injury, was coming off a game in which he scored 37 points in 38 minutes against Utah. There was some question whether he, Davis (foot) and D’Angelo Russell (foot) would play Wednesday.

“It was tough, one of the toughest games we’ve had this year,” James said.

Wednesday’s game was a homecoming of sorts for the Lakers, but it was a home game for the Clippers. The teams entered a roiling cauldron at the Crypt with matching 41-38 overall records, including at home (20-20) and on the road (21-18), adding intrigue to a matchup that has rarely delivered the goods.

James, who said he didn’t know if he would play against the Clippers until about an hour before the tipoff, scored only three points on 1-for-6 shooting in the first half as the Lakers trailed by 71-52. Davis had six points on 3-for-6 shooting to go with seven rebounds by halftime.

The rest of the Lakers’ early offense went through Russell, who had 11 of his 15 points in the first half, and Austin Reaves, who had 10 of his 20 in the opening half. James and Davis came to life in the third quarter, but not before the Clippers built a 76-52 lead and threatened to turn the game into a runaway.

“We definitely could be good,” Lue said of the Clippers’ upcoming prospects in the playoffs. “We’ve got to clean up some things. … We can be a dangerous team going into the playoffs. (But) we’ve just got to take pride in the defensive end and take ownership when you make a mistake.”