Clippers Crush Lakers’ Spirits on Christmas

The first return of All-Star voting was released prior to the Christmas Day game, and Kobe leads all players with 719,235 votes.

Russell may have a tough time earning unrestrained praise from Scott, but not from Bryant, who said the fourth quarter was a valuable learning experience for Russell. Tim Duncan made a hook shot after that, but Harden hit a three-pointer. The Clippers weak bench blew another huge lead while trying to close the game out. With a strong lead of 28 points, the starters left the court and the bench came in. He played 26 minutes and sat out the entire fourth quarter while the Lakers outscored the Clippers 27-9.

“We know that team is a playoff contender, so we should just use that as confidence knowing that we can complete with teams like that”, said Russell, who scored 12 points in the first half.

The Clippers grabbed a 60-44 lead at the half, outshooting the Lakers 51.1 percent to 41.7 percent. He has a record 395 points on Christmas Day.

In Oklahoma City, Jimmy Butler scored 23 points, while Pau Gasol had 21 points and 13 rebounds in Chicago’s victory over the home team.

Even though the Los Angeles Lakers are in rebuilding mode and have missed on their top free-agent targets in each of the past three offseasons, Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers still believes the Lakers are a top destination for free agents. Jordan Clarkson and Randle each added 11. Considering those four losses are at the hands of the teams directly ahead of them in the standings, it becomes immediately worrisome when thinking in terms of the Clippers’ chances of beating the better teams in the Western Conference.

“I think they’re always going to be an option”, Rivers said Friday before his team faced the Lakers at Staples Center.

The second one was also a fail by the Lakers.

“At that particular time, when it got to about the 6-minute mark, he had been sitting for quite a while”, Scott said.

“To go up against him in his final year, I must truly say it’s truly an honor just to be able to match up with one of the great players of this generation”, Pierce said. When that trip ends, the Lakers will have played 13 road games in the month of December.