The eaves Paul George, with 33 points and 6 rebounds, shone in the Los Angeles Clippers victory over their neighbors and rivals the Los Angeles Lakers at the NBA Opening Day game where Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka made their debut with mixed luck in their new teams in the Californian city.
Ibaka made his debut in the Clippers in an official game with a very effective performance and added 15 points, 6 rebounds and a block in the 20 minutes he played.
Instead, a Gasol very weighed down by fouls (2 in the first quarter and 5 in the middle of the third quarter) achieved only one rebound and one assist in the 12 minutes he played in his unfortunate first game with the Lakers.
Offensive hurricane
Besides George, which was an offensive hurricane in the second half (26 points in the last two quarters), the Clippers who this year trains Ty Lue also had the inspiration of Kawhi Leonard today (26 points).
On the part of the Lakers, who received the ring of champions last season, they highlighted LeBron James (22 points and 5 assists) and Anthony Davis (18 points and 7 rebounds).The Clippers came out determined to forget their disappointment in the Orlando (USA) “bubble”, where they fell by surprise to the Denver Nuggets. in the semifinals of the Western Conference, and embroidered the starting set (5-16) with 8 points from a splendid Ibaka.
Very messy in attack and no responses to counter the Clippers (50% effective on the triple in the first quarter), the Lakers wandered aimlessly until they finished the first twelve minutes with a blushing 19-39.
The world upside down
Those in purple and gold pressed in defense, one of the hallmarks of the Lakers who triumphed last season, and little by little, and with a choral participation led by James, Davis and Caldwell-Pope, reduced the distance to put the game within a stone’s throw (54-56).
After passing through the changing rooms, Gasol returned to the court but two early fouls sent him back to the bench before halfway through the third quarter and with five fouls already under his belt. In this set, James and Leonard exchanged blows in a stellar duel in style.
But it was a Unstoppable George, who with eight consecutive points shot the Clippers (78-89) despite the notable contribution in the Lakers of two important novelties of this year like Schroder and Harrell (14 points per head before the fourth quarter).
In any case, George continued his scoring recital on the final stretch including a spectacular triple more extra shot that ended up giving up to the Lakers.
Both teams will be part of the NBA special day on Christmas Day: the Lakers will face Luka Doncic’s Dallas Mavericks and the Clippers will seek revenge against the Denver Nuggets for their loss in last season’s playoffs.
