Los Angeles Clippers extend home dominance with win over the Los Angeles Lakers

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LOS ANGELES – James Harden was hailed as “selfless” after he scored 21 points to go along with 12 assists to help the Los Angeles Clippers earn a 116-102 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Jan 19 in the first game between the teams at Inglewood, California, since March 1999.

On the 2018 National Basketball Association (NBA) Most Valuable Player (MVP), Lakers legend LeBron James: “Just a great player who loves to play the game. Plays at his own pace. Has won every stop that he’s been at...

“He’s just a guy who’s a selfless, go out there and just plays the game. He’s been able to reinvent himself. At one point, he was giving guys 50-point triple-doubles, 60-point triple-doubles. He just plays the game the right way.”

Ivica Zubac registered 21 points and 19 rebounds, Norman Powell scored 22 points and Kawhi Leonard had 19 in his fifth game of the season as the Clippers won their fourth consecutive game overall and improved to 15-6 in their new US$2 billion (S$2.73 billion) Intuit Dome home.

It already seems to have a homely feeling for Clippers coach Tyronn Lue, who said: “It felt like home, from introductions to when they were booing the Lakers... I thought our fans were tremendous.”

Since the 2020-21, the Clippers have lost just three of their 17 games against their city rivals, with all the defeats coming last season.

Leonard was nine-for-13 from the field and added four assists while matching a season high by playing 24 minutes. He missed the first three months of the campaign due to a knee injury. Zubac added three blocks against his former team.

James scored 25 points and dished out 11 assists and Anthony Davis had 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Lakers, who lost their third consecutive road game and fell for the fourth time in their past six games overall.

Rui Hachimura scored 19 points and Austin Reaves added 14 before leaving late in the game due to a knee injury for the Lakers, who previously played at Great Western Forum in Inglewood from 1967 to 1999.

James seemed to have levelled a dig at the Lakers’ roster construction after the game, when he was quoted by the Los Angeles Times as saying: “That’s how our team is constructed. We don’t have room for error – for much error...

“We don’t have a choice. I mean… that’s the way our team is constructed. And we have to play close-to-perfect basketball (to win games).”

His coach J.J. Re...

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