The Los Angeles Lakers surprised everyone when the season started by beating the Los Angeles Clippers 116-103 on opening night. Bill Simmons couldn’t believe what he saw, and many pundits questioned if the Clippers were really going to be contenders this season.
On Friday, the two teams met up for the second time this season and the results weren’t quite the same: the Clippers routed the Lakers 123-87 – the largest margin of victory ever against the Lakers in franchise history.
It was a crushing loss for the Lakers, who were outscored 43-25 in the first quarter and 31-8 in the third quarter. Blake Griffin did anything he wanted on his way to 33 points on 12-of-15 shooting, 12 rebounds, four assists, four steals and two blocks. Darren Collison, starting in place of the injured Chris Paul, also had his way with 20 points on nine-of-12 shooting, five rebounds and seven assists.
Nick Young, who struggled with 11 points on just three-of-14 shooting, had something interesting to say about the Clippers after the contest, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN Los Angeles:
Nick Young on the Clippers: “They always play good during the year. Let’s see how it comes down in the postseason”
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) January 11, 2014
Shots fired?
He didn’t necessarily spell it out, but it sure seemed like a dig at the Clippers’ inability to go very far in the postseason since acquiring Paul. It’s certainly an interesting take from Young, given that he played for the Clippers a couple of seasons ago and helped them move past the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs before getting swept by the San Antonio Spurs.
Either way, the Clippers look to make some noise in the postseason while the Lakers are inching closer to being the worst team in the Western Conference.
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James Park is the chief blogger of Sheridan Hoops. You can find him on twitter @SheridanBlog.
Nick Young is the only player in the NBA that has his IQ on his uniform: O. Over and out.