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Los Angeles Lakers lose to Clippers on “Ring Night”, 5 Lessons

Ronald Agers|
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 22: (L-R) Anthony Davis #3, LeBron James #23, and Quinn Cook #2 of the Los Angeles Lakers pose during the 2020 NBA championship ring ceremony before their opening night game against the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center on December 22, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 22: (L-R) Anthony Davis #3, LeBron James #23, and Quinn Cook #2 of the Los Angeles Lakers pose during the 2020 NBA championship ring ceremony before their opening night game against the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center on December 22, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
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Los Angeles Lakers
(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers are 0-1 to start the 2020-21 season.

The Los Angeles Lakers welcomed back the NBA fans by getting their championship rings and a hyped up matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers. A couple of events happened last night. One event happened just like last year and another event was more historic. Lake Show Life brings back another season of Lake Show Life Lessons, the only extended Los Angeles Lakers post-game report with highlights and extended analysis.

The outcome of the NBA hyped matchup of the two Los Angeles teams was to be expected. The night for the Lakers was more about last year than this game. The Lake Show are facing the challenge of dealing with the shortest offseason in the history of all professional sports, while celebrating the franchise’s 17th NBA title.

A lot of NBA pundits will look at the score and will swear the sky is falling because the Lakers are the favorites. Plus now that they have re-invented themselves from being the tallest team to a  younger, faster, more athletic team, the upgrades leaves very little doubt to many that follow the NBA.

In recent years, the reigning champs almost never win opening night. On Tuesday night, the Los Angeles Lakers didn’t either.

While the Jeanie Buss had a private V.I.P. party for her Lakers team and millions of their closest fans in Lakers Nation, the Clippers stayed in the locker room as LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the rest of the remaining players on the championship roster got their custom championship rings closing out last year’s championship run.  After the party was over, the Clippers put on a show of their own with intentions of having their own jewelry party next year.

This rivalry will always be about the superstars and while LeBron James and Anthony Davis were bathing in the nostalgia of the championship bling, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George wanted to throw some shade on the Lakers shine.

Paul George, starting the season fresh off of his $190 million extension, scored 26 of his 33 point explosion in the second half while Kawhi Leonard added the proper support with 26 points. They closed off numerous Lakers rallies closing out a 116-109 victory for the Los Angeles Clippers.

The defense was flatlining out of the gate as the Clippers did damage on the perimeter, most notably Serge Ibaka, who dropped 8 of his 15 points for an early double-digit lead. Couple that with LeBron James shooting struggles, (Missed his first three field-goal attempts and two free throws!) the Lakers had yet another issue with slow starts.

Once is an accident, like they did against the Phoenix Suns in their third preseason game falling down 20-7. But they rallied to win.

Twice is a coincidence, falling behind the same Suns without Chris Paul 22-7 in the first quarter before sneaking out of the preseason with a one-point win.

Now based on the past season and what has been seen lately, this is becoming a trend. The Clippers stormed out to a 39-19 lead after the first quarter and fell behind as much as 22 points before the Lakers made a run to cut it to two points by halftime. Only this time, the Lakers did not come back.

The best network that broadcast the Lakers games has to be TNT. See the crew, especially Charles Barkley, always bring something extra to the table. It seems that Barkley has a brand new partnership with FanDuel. He actually put up $100,000 dollars betting that the Portland Trail Blazers will go to the NBA Finals out of the Western Conference.

If that bet doesn’t pay off, this writer knows quite a few Lake Show Life readers (Yes, you McKinley Webb, Slick, Corky Carroll and Donald!) that will treat Charles Barkley like this if the Lakers repeat as champions.

To the new Los Angeles Lakers fans that are checking us out for the first time, welcome to Lake Show Life Lessons. Our extended post-game report with video analysis will cover the progress for the Los Angeles Lakers the entire season!

Over the next several pages we will provide highlights of certain players and coaches. Afterward, the comment section is loaded with knowledgeable fans adding their basketball knowledge. We usually start with the stars.

 Who was that player? Let’s get to Lesson One and find out!

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