INGLEWOOD — Collin Sexton screamed in Cam Christie’s face with a Jack Nicholson-like grin as he picked up the Clippers guard at midcourt, his eyes bulging as his intensity bled through into his facial expression.
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“I was yelling, smiling,” Sexton said of the moment, as he helped the Lakers force 24 turnovers in a 103-87 victory over the Clippers on Wednesday night at the Intuit Dome. “I knew he didn’t want the ball. He didn’t want the pressure. But it’s cool. It’s definitely one of those moments that he was like, ‘Man, uh, good defense.’”
As a leading participant of the bench unit, Sexton has already become a staple of postgame questions from the media, all leading to a discussion about how Sexton changes from his light, off-the-court candor to the “level of insanity” that Lakers coach JJ Redick referred to on Sunday after their road win against the Utah Jazz.
“When I step between those lines, it’s us against them,” Sexton said. “I’m going to do whatever my team needs for me. I feel like I turn into a different person when it’s time to go. And I think my teammates know that, so they try to talk to me a little bit, but they know I’m in the zone and ready to go to war. And that’s how I look at it. Whenever I step between those lines, it’s war time.”
He helped spark a pair of steals and layups from guard Quentin Grimes (23 points on 7-for-15 shooting) in the first quarter, helping the Lakers generate some offense while they shed their sea legs, Redick said, leading a 23-4 run during the second quarter as they built a 56-38 halftime lead.
“That stretch, that play was very emblematic of how our defense was tonight,” Redick said.
Grimes said Sexton is always ready to be at full speed, helping to set the tone of the defense with his aggressive mindset.
“When he comes in, he don’t even gotta flip that switch, he just comes in,” Grimes said. “He’s on ‘go’ probably when he wakes up honestly.”
The Lakers (4-1) held the Clippers to 35.1% shooting from the field to beat their crosstown rivals for the second time in less than a week.
Even without star guard Luka Doncic (back tightness) and fellow starter Ziaire Williams (left foot inflammation and soreness), Sexton helped set a tone for his teammates.
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Sexton’s 21 points on 6-for-11 shooting, while sinking four of his seven 3-point attempts, was proof of concept for the two-year contract the Lakers gave the 27-year-old guard during free agency this summer. Just Tuesday night, in the Lakers’ shootout loss to the Portland Trail Blazers in the first night of the back-to-back set, Sexton missed all five of his 3-point attempts.
Redick didn’t waver on what Sexton offers the team offensively.
“I trust Collin Sexton catch-and-shoot threes,” Redick said after Tuesday’s loss. “(Career) 40% shooter. He got good looks.”
One night later, those shots started to fall for Sexton, who finished a team-high plus-23 in the box score, while forward/center Sandro Mamukelashvili and forward Jarred Vanderbilt also finished with plus-minus ratings above 20 on Wednesday.
“I feel like it’s something that’s going to, once my legs get back, I will just continue to knock down shots,” said Sexton, who sat out all five preseason games and the first game of the regular season with a calf muscle strain in his left leg. “But at the end of the day, I’ve got to just take it a day-at-a-time. It’s not the easiest coming back from injury, but my teammates they’ve been there to pick me up and encourage me to continue to shoot and continue to go forward.”
In the third quarter, with the Lakers leading 70-57, Sexton pushed his way into the paint through Clippers first-round draft pick Keaton Wagler. Sexton put a shot up from within the paint, drew contact from the rookie guard, then pounded his chest from under the basket as he looked up at the crowd.
Austin Reaves might have been top-billed for the Lakers on Wednesday with Doncic on the sidelines.
But it was Sexton who left his first major impression in purple and gold with his tenacity powering the Lakers to their fourth win as they navigate a busy stretch of the schedule.
Sexton said it himself on Sunday night in Salt Lake City. He knows exactly what he brings to the Lakers.
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“They call me a bull for a reason,” he said.