The Lakers fell to 25-52 on the season, matching the most losses in franchise history. .::All video contents belongs to National Basektball Association::. Subscribe for more NBA Highlights Daily ! Like us on FB: https://www.facebook.com/NbaRumorsGossip THE LEAD: The hallway series between the Lakers and Clippers continues to be as one-sided as it was five years. Only one difference: The roles have completely reversed. The Clippers (55-23) blew out the Lakers for the third straight time this season in a 120-97 victory Sunday afternoon at Staples Center, inching them closer to the No. 2 spot in the Western Conference standings while dropping the injury-riddled Lakers ever closer to last. THE STAT: The Clippers shot 61 percent through the first three quarters before finishing at 56.6, just off their season-high of 58.5. TURNING POINT: The Clippers used a 14-2 run in the second quarter to take their first double-digit lead at 52-39. The Lakers managed to get back within eight at intermission, but the Clippers scored the first eight points coming out of halftime and the Lakers never got back within single digits as the lead ballooned to 22 heading into the final quarter. HOT: Clippers point guard Chris Paul is taking his game to another level as the playoffs come into focus. He shot 8-for-10 and scored 23 points in three quarters of work. In the last six games, he's averaging 23.8 points while shooting 20-for-40 from 3-point range, an area of his game that typically isn't his strength. The starting five for the Clippers combined to shoot 66 percent from the floor, as J.J. Redick (7-for-11), DeAndre Jordan (5-for-6) and Matt Barnes (4for-6) also shot the ball exceptionally well. The standout for the Lakers was power forward Jordan Hill, who finished with 22 points on 10-for-14 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds. QUOTABLE: "The biggest challenge is he doesn't have a weakness." -- Lakers point guard Kendall Marshall on Paul NOT: The Lakers started the game with nine healthy players, were down to eight by halftime and seven by the end of the game. Starting small forward Kent Bazemore went down with a right foot injury early in the second quarter and did not return. X-rays came back negative during the game but Bazemore, who has a history of foot injuries dating back to his college days at Old Dominion, will undergo an MRI on Monday. Nick Young then went down late in the third quarter and stayed on the bench with his left knee heavily wrapped in ice. Young got off to a great start offensively against the Clippers, making four of his first five shots, but he missed nine of his last 10. As thin as the Lakers are, coach Mike D'Antoni still couldn't find a reason to put MarShon Brooks into the game until the final minutes. The Clippers were sloppy with the basketball during the first half, committing 13 turnovers, but cleaned things up after halftime, when they had just three giveaways. Clippers leading scorer Blake Griffin finished with 23 points and seven rebounds, but based on his expressions during the game, he wasn't fond of his performance. He did most of his damage in the first half, scoring 16 points on 7-for-11 shooting, but missed all three of his field-goal attempts in the third quarter before taking a seat for the fourth. QUOTABLE II: "I'm going to go down with the ship." -- Young on his playing status for remaining games GOOD MOVE: The Clippers are still three games behind the Thunder in the loss column, which is a lot to make up with four regular-season games left for L.A. and seven for Oklahoma City. The teams play Wednesday at Staples Center, but the Clippers will still need a lot help if they hope to catch the Thunder and possibly lock up home-court advantage for the first two rounds of the playoffs. Still, the Clippers didn't take any shortcuts against the Lakers, throwing everything but the kitchen sink at their inner-city rival, and now have two days off to prepare for the Thunder. BAD MOVE: If the Lakers are hoping to keep their fans from drifting to the other side, they need to play a lot better against the Clippers. After winning the season opener, the Lakers have dropped the last three games against the Clippers by a combined 107 points. The Clippers are the first team with three victories of at least 20 points against the Lakers in the same season since the Golden State Warriors in 1966-67. NOTABLE: Jordan played in his 236th consecutive game, the longest active streak in the NBA and the fourth-longest in club history. ... The Clippers are 19-4 this season when Paul scores at least 20 points.

• published: 06 Apr 2014
• views: 36