Last week: Lost at Oklahoma City 118-112, won at Lakers 111-106, lost to Utah 120-107
This week: Tuesday at Sacramento, Thursday vs. Detroit, Saturday vs. Memphis
An odd and inconsistent week for the LA Clippers, who sandwiched losses at Oklahoma City and to the Jazz around a Christmas Day “road” win over the Lakers. That leaves LA just fifth in the Western Conference after a seven-game stretch during which the Clippers are just 3-4 and have alternated losses and wins throughout.
With Montrezl Harrell having the year he’s having, it’s easy to forget he is the — technically in any case — backup center for LA. The starter had a nice week of his own last week, as Ivica Zubac averaged 11.0 points and 9.3 rebounds in just 20.9 minutes per game, shooting 57.9 percent in the process. He had 15 points and 12 boards in the loss to the Jazz on Saturday.
Last week: Lost to Denver 128-104, lost to Clippers 111-106, won at Portland 128-120
This week: Sunday vs. Dallas, Wednesday vs. Phoenix, Friday vs. New Orleans
After breaking their four-game losing streak Saturday night in Portland, the Los Angeles Lakers will return home for their next five games, part of a stretch during which the Lakers will play seven of eight games at Staples Center. They’ve already lost the first two of those home games, getting drubbed Sunday by the Nuggets with LeBron James in street clothes before losing to the Clippers.
Without LeBron on Sunday, Anthony Davis stepped fully into the L.A. spotlight on his own, scoring 32 points with 11 rebounds and four blocks, but in a 24-point loss (almost NOLA like). For the week, he put up 25.3 points, 8.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.0 blocks and 1.3 steals while shooting 50.0 percent overall, but making just 3-of-14 from beyond the arc.