Lakers rout the Clippers, win their first game after emotional Anthony Davis trade

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Laker Austin Reaves drives past Clipper James Harden in the second quarter at the Intuit Dome Tuesday. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)

Of course the Lakers were excited, a perennial MVP candidate now sitting on the end of their bench in Luka Doncic, a 25-year-old offensive maestro now on their roster.

Of course, the offensive possibilities of him playing with LeBron James and with Austin Reaves, of whipping passes to Dorian Finney-Smith and Rui Hachimura for open corner threes have JJ Redick ready to get to work.

But no matter what happened during the Lakers’ 122-97 win over the Clippers Tuesday, the team’s feelings following this trade are certainly more complex.

For 47 games, the Lakers tried to solve the problems their roster presented, finding the best ways to cover up their flaws, accentuate their strengths and maximize their potential. And after a win last Saturday night against the Knicks, the Lakers could see it.

Read more: Plaschke: Luka Doncic joins Lakers with bad baggage … and that’s a good thing

They were close.

And then in a matter of moments, everything was different. The previous season was over. The new season was about to start. And there was sadness in that.

“Guys are going to feel a certain way,” coach JJ Redick said. “And there’s a grieving process. There’s an excitement and a rebirth process. There’s all of these things and those things take time. It’s not, we’re not going to wave a magic wand and say, ‘Ah, we’re good today.’ Like it takes time. The important thing is that the mission has not changed and how we go about doing that mission has not changed.”

But even without Anthony Davis, even without Max Christie and even without Doncic, who is still recovering from a calf injury, the Lakers looked like a team still intent on accomplishing that mission, melancholy or not.

Against the Clippers at Intuit Dome, the Lakers continued to play with the kind of intensity, the kind of focus and the kind of execution that had them believing they could win this season in the first place.

Read more: ‘Imagine how I felt’: Luka Doncic surprised he was traded to Lakers

James, like he was for most of the…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/lakers-rout-clippers-win-first-053930370.html

Author : LA Times

Publish date : 2025-02-05 05:39:00

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