Luka-less Lakers use balanced effort to beat sloppy Clippers

INGLEWOOD — The Clippers avoided facing Lakers star Luka Doncic for a second time in less than a week. They caught the Lakers on the second night of a back-to-back set and they played at home in front of their fans.

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And still, they couldn’t rein in the Lakers or their own mistakes and lost to their crosstown rivals again, 103-87, this time in front of a subdued Intuit Dome crowd that ultimately was drowned out by “Let’s Go, Lakers” chants.

Unlike the game last week at Crypto.com Arena, though, this wasn’t very competitive after the first quarter as the Lakers took advantage of 24 Clippers turnovers. They took control in the second quarter, outscoring the Clippers 31-16, including a 16-0 run, to take a 56-38 halftime lead.

Trouble started early for the Clippers when they turned the ball over four times in the first four minutes.

“I think it was kind of deflating early on,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said of their missed opportunities to take advantage of Doncic’s absence.

The Lakers, though, didn’t miss a step without Doncic, who sat out with back tightness. Austin Reaves picked up the slack after a slow start and finished with 16 points and eight assists but couldn’t produce the kind of highlights he has posted this season on a 6-for-16 shooting night (1 for 6 from 3-point range). He had 28 points in the Lakers’ victory over the Clippers last week.

Reaves, one half of the Lakers’ two-star backcourt, came into the game averaging 26.5 points but couldn’t single-handedly make up for Doncic’s averages of 36 points, 6.8 rebounds or 8.6 assists. Five other Lakers, led by Quentin Grimes (23 points, five assists, four steals) and Collin Sexton (21 points, four rebounds, 4 for 7 from 3-point range), scored in double figures as they improved to 4-1.

“Last night was like a track meet against Portland,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said of their first loss of the season, a 139-126 defeat on Tuesday.

“And for a team, you know, responding to their first loss … they responded in a nice way,” Redick said.

Forward Matisse Thybulle added 15 points while shooting 4 for 5 from 3-point range, Sandro Mamukelashvili had 13 points and eight rebounds, and Walker Kessler finished with 11 points and nine rebounds. Forward Jake LaRavia contributed some dirty work with 10 rebounds (five offensive) and three steals.

Redick credited the team’s rebounding for the victory, calling their 17 offensive boards phenomenal. The Lakers outrebounded the Clippers 48-41.

“Jake had five of those, Sandro had four of those. Like those guys gave us extra possessions, won the scoring opportunity by seven,” Reddick said. “I thought we did a really good job for the most part on (Brook) Lopez and that generated some turnovers.”

Lue said his team has been taking steps to “do things with the right intent” when it comes to sharing the ball and playing with pace. But when it comes to holding onto the ball, it’s another matter.

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“We got to do a better job of taking care of the basketball,” Lue said. “To have 26 turnovers in back-to-back games is way too much, especially when we don’t have a lot of room for error. Our guys understand that.”

That margin shrunk even more against the Lakers, who shot 44% (35 for 79) from the field, including 29% (9 for 31) from 3-point range. The Clippers (1-3), who are missing six key rotation players, shot a woeful 35% (26 for 74) overall and 32% (10 for 31) from 3-point range.

The Lakers, who also were playing without starting forward Ziaire Williams (foot soreness), took an 18-point lead on a pair of free throws by Sexton with four seconds left in the first half.

The Clippers briefly rallied to open the third quarter, outscoring the Lakers 12-2 to pull within seven. But the Lakers closed the period on a 27-15 surge, with Sexton reeling off 11 consecutive points including back-to-back 3-pointers for an 85-66 lead.

The Clippers did end the third with a half-court buzzer-beater from rookie guard Keaton Wagler, who led them with 21 points, offsetting a 4-of-15 night from the field by making 10 of 12 from the free-throw line.

Midway through the final quarter, the Lakers stretched their lead to 23 points and coasted to the finish line.

“We’re trying to make the right plays. I think we’re just playing a little too fast,” point guard Darius Garland said. “I think once we slow down, get a rhythm, get the chemistry down we will be fine.”

With six players out, Lue said the Clippers can let down their guard against talented teams like the Lakers.

“With Luka being out, we know (Reaves) was going to be the focal point and he can beat you by himself. I think last year he might have had 50 or something at one time,” Lue said.

Garland had 14 points on 4-of-12 shooting and five of the Clippers’ turnovers. Derrick Jones Jr. had a team-high 15 points, five rebounds and four steals.

The Clippers came into the game averaging a league-worst 23.3 turnovers per game, with no other team averaging more than 19.5.

“Sometimes you’re going to have bad breaks, but we had a lot of unforced turnovers that we could take care of and have control over, but we didn’t do a good job of taking care of the basketball,” Lue said.

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