Los Angeles Clippers at Los Angeles Lakers
Time: 9:30 PM CT (ESPN)
Spread: LAC -12
Total: 207
Betting odds c/o 5dimes
We are now all in store for Kobe Bryant’s last NBA Christmas. The legend and his Lakers will host the city rival Los Angeles Clippers in the final game of a five-game Christmas Day slate. The Clippers are favored by 12-points in the game which will air at 9:30 PM Central on ESPN.
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The Lakers are just 5-24 on the season and have won two of its past 10 games. Bryant has begun to pick up the pace, gaining steam from an Achilles injury which sidelined him most of last season. Perhaps a lot of his struggles were just knocking off the rust, but most are prepared to admit that the Mamba has fallen off mostly due to an aged body which is now more than ready to retire.
After some 20 seasons and countless miles on the tires, Bryant has solidified himself as one of the greatest NBA talents ever, and maybe a strong Christmas day showing would be the kind of swan song NBA fans crave desperately.
Bryant still leads the Lakers in scoring at 17.4 points per game, but his posting a below average PER of 13.6 as a result of his often poor shooting. Bryant is hitting just 34.4 percent from the floor this season and 24.7 percent from three.
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It prompted rookie D’Angelo Russell to do a mock impersonation of the legend which had the rookie airballing a three and proclaiming he was Kobe. Do not expect the mockery to sit well with Bryant, who still prides himself on being a great, even if the rookie is the future of the Lakers.
The Ohio State Buckeye is averaging 11.9 points per game in 28 minutes a night, but he has hardly been lights out in his own right, shooting 39.6 percent from the floor and 32.4 percent from three.
Perhaps the best surprise for the Lakers has been the play of Julius Randle. The former Kentucky Wildcat broke his leg in the season opener last year, so this is his “true” rookie year. He vowed prior to the season to average a double-double, and he just might. This season Randle is averaging 11.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game, though he is shooting just 42.1 percent from the field.
Even so, the Lakers remain high on the point-forward who has drawn comparisons to Anthony Mason with his ball handling, strength, inside power and toughness. The Lakers have a host of frontcourt talent with he, Brandon Bass and Roy Hibbert, but the team has failed to gel that well, and Kobe’s teammates are well aware this season is really about showcasing Bryant in his final go-round as an NBA player.
The Clippers are just 16-13 and have dropped its past three games to three 2015 Playoff teams: the San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets and most recently the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Clippers were able to knock off James Harden and the Rockets last season, but have fallen to the realm of mediocrity this season (as have the Rockets).
Doc Rivers’ squad still has the same core of players, and the thought was with the added depth of Paul Pierce, Lance Stephenson and Josh Smith that this team would be better than ever before. That has hardly been the case with that trio all shooting the ball horrifically and failing to blend much as a unit.
Perhaps that would have been expected from Stephenson, who had a precipitous fall off last season as Charlotte Hornet after having shined in Indiana. Pierce, too, has an excuse with his advanced age, and Smith has hardly ever been a model of efficiency throughout his disappointing NBA career.
The Clippers are still very much a team that succeeds on the basis of the play of point guard Chris Paul and point-forward Blake Griffin. Griffin has drawn a lot of flak over his career, but his game has continued to develop unabated from the opinions of fans and analysts. Last season he averaged over five assists per game and is approaching that mark again this year. Paul still has his sights set on bringing the Clippers organization its first title in team history, and today’s game against the Lakers hardly presents a road block in that goal.
While the Clippers are 12-point favorites, this could be a game Bryant comes out and seeks to make a statement in. As to whether his aged body allows him to do so may be a different matter, but the Clippers are struggling and a Lakers’ win on Christmas Day would help the Lakers’ confidence in a season with few reasons for it to be bolstered. For all a fifth Lakers’ win may mean, the best Christmas present to most Lakers fans will be getting to see one of the all-time talents perform once more on the big stage.
