In the ultimate spectacle of the NBA’s Christmas Day program, the two most prominent candidates for taking the Larry O’Brien trophy clashed. The LA Clippers defeated their local rivals, the LA Lakers for the second time this season, closing the gap in the standings between them. The result, in the end, was 111-106.
Late Push Lifts the Clippers
The key moment of the match happened 3.6 seconds before the end. With the result 109-106 for the Clippers, Patrick Beverly not only blocked LeBron James’ three-point attempt but earned a possession for his team. The ball went out of bounds after touching LBJ, preventing the Lakers from having another chance to force the overtime.
Yet, the purple and gold shouldn’t allow themselves to come into a position like this one. They were leading 12 points at the halftime and extended that advantage to 15 early in the third. The Clippers responded with a 16-3 series to curt the deficit but didn’t take the lead.
Midway through the fourth LAL was up 101-94, but they suddenly stopped. LeBron James failed to show up, scoring just one point over the last six minutes of the match. Just to remind, King James scored two points in the entire fourth period of the first meeting between these two sides.
Doc Rivers’ boys had more options in attack and they managed to snatch this contest. Kawhi was hot, dropping 35 points shooting 5 of 7 from downtown and 11 of 19 from the field. He also had 12 boards, 5 assists all that in 38 minutes.
Montrezl Harrell added 18 off the bench, while Paul George contributed with 17 points, but had a tremendous impact on the defensive end.
Among the Lakers, James scored 23, had 10 assists, and was one board short of getting another triple-double. Anthony Davis dropped 24, but these two guys were terrible when shooting for three, making just 3 of 16 combined.
Kyle Kuzma posted a team-high for the nominal hosts, with 25 buckets. The Lakers are now 24-7, while Clippers stand at 23-10.
Pelicans Stun Nuggets in Colorado
Many were guessing why Denver Nuggets can’t play with the New Orleans Pelicans. Last night’s loss, 112-100, was the second of the season for the Nuggets against the franchise from the Big Easy. Michael Malone, who recently extended his contract, had an interesting observation following the event.
“We don’t have a matchup for Brandon Ingram,” Malone stated.
Pelicans’ young star dropped 31 points (franchise record on Christmas Day) and had 7 rebounds. But what was even more impressive was the shooting percentage he had for three-points. Ingram made 7 of his 9 shots, totally obliterating the Nuggets’ defense.
In general, the Nuggets were playing bad on both sides of the court, but the most noticeable thing was that they allowed 18 threes. It is the main reason for their loss.
Apart from Ingram, Jrue Holiday added 20 points, Josh Hart 16, and JJ Redick 15.
Nikola Jokic led the way for the Nuggets scoring 23 points, and securing 10 boards Jerami Grant was behind him off the bench, with 17 points, and Gary Harris scored 15. Jamal Murray finished the night with just 8 buckets.
Nuggets have a record of 21-9, while the Pelicans improved to 9-23.
