Lakers ready to see Clippers’ new home, if they can get into it

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The Clippers will host the Lakers for the first time at Intuit Dome on Sunday. Expect plenty of fireworks. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Nine-thousand, four-hundred and forty-eight days or so ago, Derek Harper split on a pair of free throws inside the Los Angeles Sports Arena with one second on the clock for the final point scored by a Lakers player in a true road game against the Clippers.

After March 9, 1999, anytime the Lakers and the Clippers played, they did so as roommates, as co-tenants of Staples Center (and later, Crypto.com Arena) — a bizarre situation that led to banners being covered and traffic jams underneath the building as players from both teams tried to exit out of a parking lot designed for one home team and not two.

Naturally, following their win against Brooklyn on Friday, that transportation issue was on LeBron James’ mind as he readied himself and his team for the next chapter in Lakers-Clippers Sunday at the new Intuit Dome in Inglewood.

“LeBron asked after the game what the situation with us arriving is, and I think that they got all that figured out,” said Austin Reaves, who scored a career-high 38 points Friday, with a bit of a shrug. “So I’ll just have to ask somebody.”

Assuming the Lakers figure out how to get into the building, they’ll be facing a Clippers team much better than the one that closed the Sports Arena in 1999 and finished with a, gulp, 9-41 record (the season not starting until February because of a labor issue).

This edition of the Clippers have been one of the best stories of the first half of the season, their swarming defense pairing masterfully with James Harden’s system-unto-himself offense and Norman Powell’s breakout season.

Read more: Austin Reaves scores career-high 38 as Lakers edge D’Angelo Russell and Nets

The Clippers are, in a lot of ways, built to challenge the Lakers’ weaknesses. Their physicality, their motor, their size and athleticism have all been things that have given the Lakers problems in losses to Detroit, Houston, Minnesota and Cleveland.

And the Lakers are still trying to solve some core issues — namely, how to stay…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/lakers-ready-see-clippers-home-120052782.html

Author : LA Times

Publish date : 2025-01-19 12:00:00

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