Lakers: 5 Games To Circle On The Lakers 2016-2017 Schedule
By John Hills
Christmas Day Showdown
On December 25th, most Lakers’ players will probably not care much about their Christmas presents waiting for them under the tree. Instead, they will be focused on their contest against their Staples Center co-tenants, the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Clippers have gotten the best of the match-ups recently, but the Lakers will try to reverse that trend with a win this December.
For so many years, the Clippers were seen as the “little brother” to the Lakers and were mired in mediocrity, while the Lakers triumphed to multiple championships. Unfortunately, for Lakers fans, the last few years have been a different story.
Starting in 2011-2012, the Clippers finally started to turn it around and started a string of five straight playoff berths that is still intact.
On the flip side, the rise of the Clippers has coincided with the downfall of the Lakers, whose performance has slowly declined since their last NBA title in 2009-2010. The Clippers have been the far superior Staples Center team over the last few years, but the Lakers will surely fight hard for their L.A. pride and home-turf bragging rights. Impressing Santa Claus with a win is always a plus too.