The first battle of Los Angeles ended with the Clippers celebrating a win over the Lakers (119-115). The two teams were close for the most part, but the Clippers managed to hold on their lead.
After the game, Carmelo Anthony, who had 13 points and 5 rebounds, was asked about the crucial final minutes of the fourth quarter and how the Clippers were able to win the game.
“[The Clippers] executed a couple of things down the stretch,” Melo said postgame. “Luke Kennard hit a big shot. Morris had a bang shot. One shot that Luke hit, AD was all over it, he made it.
“Morris hot a bang shot, tip your hat to him. We were right there, they made some shots. They actually made some big shots down the stretch. Some of it we just got to go back and revisit tomorrow.”
At the same time, Anthony admitted that the Lakers felt they were close to overtaking the game. “We were there,” he said. “We felt it. We felt the momentum change. We felt the momentum coming to use. Our defense was solid for the most part down the stretch. It just came to those couple of plays that they executed well.”
