The Los Angeles Lakers take on the Los Angeles Clippers in an extremely important game on Wednesday night. The Lakers are the seventh seed in the Western Conference and are tied in the standings with the Clippers.
Wednesday’s game very well could be the difference between the Lakers being a top-six seed in the Western Conference or resorting to the play-in. The Golden State Warriors are also in the equation but this game versus the Clippers is massive.
Add in the fact that this is the first game Russell Westbrook will play against his former team. The purple and gold trading Westbrook was the inflection point of the season and there is definitely some animosity there between the former MVP and the fanbase.
If that all was not enough to make Lakers fans root for a demolition on Wednesday, Clippers head coach Ty Lue made sure to put the icing on the cake. Lue, who has won a grand total of two playoff series without LeBron James, made sure to send a subtle shot that Lakers fans won’t appreciate.
"This is probably the first meaningful game we've played against them," Ty Lue said of the matchup with the Lakers. He's unbeaten vs. the Lakers as coach of the Clippers.
— Andrew Greif (@AndrewGreif) April 4, 2023
This is perfect bulletin board material for the Lakers vs the Clippers
Again, this game already meant enough for the Lakers to bring their absolute A-game on Wednesday but Lue is not doing himself any favors with this quote. Lakers fans are already letting him hear it online as this is exactly the type of thing that will be circulated if the Clippers lose on Wednesday.
This season has not yielded any meaningful games and the 2021-22 season was bad for both teams so that is completely irrelevant. To pretend like the two teams did not have any meaningful games during the 2020-21 season, when both teams made the playoffs, is a bit absurd.
Lue and the Clippers have gotten the better of the Lakers in the regular season and there is no other way around it: the purple and gold have been dominated. There is no way to spin a 10-game regular-season losing streak to your cross-hall rivals.
That being said, the Lakers are still the only team with a championship in this recent stretch of history, let alone in franchise history. It does not matter how well Lue’s Clippers have done against the Lakers, it will always look like the little brother trying to pick a fight with the big brother.
Plus, all those losses will instantly be erased if the Lakers come out and mop the floor with the Clippers, potentially sending them down into the play-in in the process.