by Paul Teetor
The Lakers and Clippers squared off Wednesday night in the latest – and probably last – iteration of the so-called Hallway Series. The result was a stunning Lakers “road” win that gave them a 3-1 edge in the season series.
Unless they meet in the playoffs this year – which, incredibly, has never happened — this was it as far as the co-tenants of the former Staples Center meeting in a game, regular season or post-season.
Next season the Clippers will move into owner Steve Ballmer’s $2 billion Intuit Center in Inglewood, where they will host the Lakers twice, and twice they will visit the Lakers. But there will be no more dressing within 100 feet of the opponent’s locker room, no more of that feeling that they are fighting for bragging rights inside the building itself. Something special will be lost when the Clippers are just another visiting team dropping by for a game.
Going into the game, the trends were clear: the Lakers were stuck in the mud, mired in 10th place in the NBA’s Western Conference with a 31-28 record. Unless they moved up in the standings, they would need to win two play-in games just to make the real playoffs.
On the other hand, the Clippers were the hottest team in the league, putting up a blistering pace of 26-5 since December 1. At 38-21 they were in third place in the West and headed for a high seed in the playoffs. Everything was clicking for them: James Harden was playing as well as he had in years, Kawhi Leonard was playing at an MVP level, and Paul George was playing like the All-Star he has been for a decade.
Even 35-year-old Russell Westbrook had accepted his role coming off the bench and was the undisputed leader of the second unit, a sparkplug who made things – both good and bad, but mostly good – happen with his quickness, athleticism and get-out-of-my-way bull-rushes to the hoop.
Best of all: there were no significant injuries for the oft-injured core four, all of whom are well north of 30 years old with an ominous and lengthy injury history – especially Kawhi who missed the entire season two years ago and started this season like a guy who had lost his quickness, his hops and his mojo.
Barring any new injuries, the Clippers were co-favorites with Denver to win the Western Finals and play in the NBA Finals, most likely against the Boston Celtics, who have the league’s best record.
Wednesday’s game was going strictly according to form: when Westbrook hit a power layup to start the fourth quarter, it gave the Clippers a seemingly insurmountable 21-point lead with eleven minutes to go.
Then something happened that might – repeat, might – turn the season’s trajectory around for both teams. LeBron James turned into Superman, and at the same time the Clippers started playing like the old Clippers, the team that opened the season sluggishly and then lost the first six games in a row after Harden arrived in a November trade with Philadelphia.
When things looked most hopeless for the Lakers, LeBron outscored the Clippers all by himself, 19-16 in the fourth quarter. He suddenly started looking like Steph Curry, launching and hitting three-pointer after three-pointer, hitting a total of five in the fourth quarter.
But there were two other factors in James’ decisive role in securing a 116-12 victory. First, he personally took on the task of stopping Kawhi, the best player on the Clippers. In the face of his intimidating, relentless, ultra-physical defense, Kawhi was helpless. Indeed, on the Clippers last chance to tie the game and send it to overtime, they inexplicably went to Kawhi. He drove right and, with LeBron smothering him, put up a weak shot that had no chance.
At the same time, once LeBron started hitting all those three-pointers, the Clippers were forced to double-team him. The result: LeBron consistently found his teammates for open shots that they hit. The last one was a corner three from Rui Hachimura that finally gave the Lakers the lead for good and wiped out the last remnants of that once massive 21-point Clipper lead.
Suddenly the Lakers and Coach Darvin Ham were full of confidence that the same formula that carried them to the Western Conference Finals last season could do it again.
The formula is simple: LeBron plays like he’s 29, not 39, Anthony Davis plays like a top-10 player, and the supporting cast – Hachimura, Austin Reeves, D-Angelo Russell and Cam Reddish – all have their games elevated just by being on the floor with LeBron.
His teammates gushed in praising the old man.
“How can you be surprised with some of the things he does?” Russell asked. “Nothing he does surprises me anymore.”
“It’s just him being him,” said Reaves.
“LeBron went into sicko mode,” said Davis.
As for the great LeBron himself, he took the opportunity to remind everyone that this doesn’t just happen by accident at age 39. It’s all about his unmatched work ethic both in season and during the off season.
“I wanted to be great,” LeBron said. “And you can’t be great if you don’t punch your clock in.”
So, what does the comeback win – the best fourth quarter comeback in LeBron’s 21 NBA seasons – say about the Laker’s stretch run and playoff prospects?
Are they ready to scale the heights as they did last season and end up in the Western Conference Finals, where they were swept 4-0 by the Denver Nuggets.
It was a mixed message.
In their next two games, the Lakers had to go to overtime to beat the worst team in the league, the Washington Wizards. Then Saturday night, in a game that they could have used to send a warning to the rest of the league, the Lakers played the Nuggets tough all the way – they led most of the game – before fading away and losing by 10 points in the end.
And all the old problems were back: LeBron and AD were playing too many minutes to the point of exhaustion, and only Reeves – who has picked his game up big-time in the last month — was stepping up among the supporting cast.
And the Clippers?
Well, they had cooled off after the incredible mid-season run from December 1 to February 20, and the win they should have had over the Lakers would have given them a 4-4 record in their last eight games. Instead, the stunning loss left them reeling with a 3-5 record. Then Westbrook fractured his hand in a game Friday night and will miss at least the next month.
It feels like the last Hallway Series game could have been a turning point for both teams, but we won’t really know until the season’s over.
One thing is for sure, however: as long as LeBron is on the court, the Lakers have a puncher’s chance.
Redondo ballers lose in regionals
The Redondo boys basketball team, the last beach city hoops team still standing, lost to Damien in the CIF State Southern California Regional Division 1 playoffs.
For about 10 minutes, the Sea Hawks battled underneath and did what few teams have been able to do all season — control Damien’s 7-foot center Nate Garcia.
But after the Sea Hawk’s promising first quarter, the Spartans used a 15-0 run in the second quarter to pull away and eventually crush the Sea Hawks 74-54.
For the entire first quarter, the Sea Hawks double teamed Garcia and limited him to six points on 2-of-8 shooting. But some key offensive rebounds gave Damien a 20-16 lead heading into the second quarter.
In the second quarter the junior scored the Spartans’ first six points in the post area and powered Damien’s 15-0 run.
Sea Hawks guard Devin Ringer, who finished with a team-high 15 points, snapped the Damien run with a three-point play. But the Sea Hawks couldn’t stop the onslaught and were unable to keep Garcia and the Spartans off the glass like they did in the first quarter.
Five first-half offensive rebounds and Damien’s 4-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc gave the Spartans a 42-24 lead at halftime. Redondo, on the other hand, shot 3-of-15 from three-point land.
Damien maintained a 19-point lead for much of the third quarter and despite being outscored 19-18 in the fourth quarter, the Spartans’ 22-point second quarter proved decisive.
Contact: teetor.paul@gmail.com. ER
