The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Los Angeles Clippers for a second-time and Talen Horton-Tucker was the star.
Well Los Angeles Lakers fans, it’s not like LeBron James did not warn you Friday night that this Talen Horton-Tucker kid wasn’t special.
Telling you right now! This kid is flat out SPECIAL! Mark my words https://t.co/KOYtlFxNVV
— LeBron James (@KingJames) December 12, 2020
ESPN announcer Mark Jackson plainly stated over and over again, “What is special?” By the end of the third quarter, hopefully, THT gave him an up close and personal illustration of what special is. Sure this is only a preseason game, but Talen Horton-Tucker destroyed the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday night.
The Los Angeles Lakers rolled their crosstown neighbors Los Angeles Clippers 131-106. No LeBron James, no Anthony Davis, no Clippers effort, no problems. Barring something crazy happening, unless the Clips make a deal somewhere during the season, the Clippers will be lucky to win a game whether it’s the regular season or postseason.
Kyle Kuzma had 25 points in a very strong bounce-back performance. Montrezl Harrell had his second straight double-double (19 points, 11 rebounds).
The good:
Well, you know that Quinn Cook…SIKE! Talen Horton-Tucker put up an absurd line of 33 points (11-17 shooting 4-5 from distance!), 10 rebounds (Folks, he’s a guard!), 4 assists and 4 steals. He had a plus/minus of +36!!!!
What was the most impressive part of his performance? He made adjustments on the mistakes he made in the previous game and grew from there. He looked more comfortable on the floor and showed the change of pace that was missing in the first game.
The Los Angeles Lakers couldn’t shoot 3 pointers last year. In this game, they all looked like the “Splash Brothers” The Lake Show splashed their way to 18-25 from the land of the extra point.
Marc Gasol is going to do wonders for the Lakers’ offense. Have the Lakers found a point center? His passing to open cutters allowed THT to relax and not worry about initiating the offense as much.
The bad:
The Los Angeles Clippers. Sure, they can talk about not having chemistry issues all they want but this team stunk up the Staples Center to fumigation levels.
Kawhi Leonard looks like he does not want to be there. The defense couldn’t stop light from the lack of payment on the bill. Was this Doc Rivers’ fault? Nobody on the Lakers played bad so somebody had to take this part of the article.
The story:
This team has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to options. Nobody on this roster can feel entitled. The Los Angeles Lakers are 10 men deep easily. The practice scrimmages were probably better than this game.
Lake Show Life’s more in-depth breakdowns will come in Lake Show Life Lessons tomorrow. Keep it locked for the only Los Angeles Lakers post-game report with highlights and in-depth analysis.