In 2019, the Los Angeles Lakers and LA Clippers both made major moves, with the Lakers trading for Anthony Davis and the Clippers signing Kawhi Leonard and dealing for Paul George. It promised to set up a “Battle of LA” rivalry, conceivably leading to a Western Conference Finals played between the rival locker rooms of what was then known as STAPLES Center.
That disappointment of an era is officially over. LeBron James, who was the franchise star on that Lakers team, signed with the Philadelphia 76ers in the offseason, and the Clippers, now playing at Intuit Dome 11 miles away, ended the Leonard era by trading him back to the Toronto Raptors.
Tonight, the teams will face off for the first time in the post-“Battle” era when the Lakers host the Clippers at 10 p.m. ET.
Despite it being early in the season, both teams have long injury reports. Bradley Beal (knee), Brandon Ingram (heel), Jordan Miller (shoulder), Yanic Konan Niederhäuser (foot), and Max Strus (foot) all remain out for the Clippers. Rookie Cameron Carr (oblique) and second-year pro Adou Thiero (knee) remain out for the Lakers, while Jake LaRavia (ankle) is questionable.
The Lakers are 9.5-point favorites at DraftKings Sportsbook (-380 on the Moneyline), and the point total is set to 225.5. The Clippers are +300 on the Moneyline.
Below, I’ll break down tonight’s rivalry showdown and offer a prediction.
LA Clippers at Los Angeles Lakers preview, prediction
The Clippers had a tumultuous offseason, as the punishment for the Aspiration scandal that had hung over the franchise in the 2025/26 season finally was handed down, stripping them of five future first-round picks. Now, their roster looks almost entirely different; Darius Garland and fifth overall pick Keaton Wagler are now the Clippers’ franchise players, with Ingram (acquired in the Leonard deal) set to rejoin the team at some point. Brook Lopez, Kris Dunn, and Derrick Jones Jr. all return from last season’s roster, but one of their starters in their season-opening win over the Sacramento Kings, Rui Hachimura, was on the Lakers last season.
The Lakers have similarly reworked their core. In addition to Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves, the Lakers had three new starters in their season-opening win over the Golden State Warriors, as they brought in Walker Kessler, Ziaire Williams, and Matisse Thybulle to round out the starting lineup and Quentin Grimes, Sandro Mamukelashvili, and Kevon Looney to come off the bench. Kessler recorded the most dunks in a single game by a Laker since Shaquille O’Neal in 2003, and Dončić was tremendous as usual. The Lakers should have a top-10 offense again this season, and their defense, an issue last season, looked good in the season opener.
Clippers at Lakers pick, best bet
Both of these teams had questions to answer for their interior play last season. Although neither allowed a ton of restricted-area tries, the Lakers conceded the second-highest percentage on such looks and the Clippers the ninth-highest mark. The Lakers paid a high price for Kessler, but it could pay off; he ranked in at least the 94th percentile in rim points saved per 100 possessions in each of the first three seasons of his career, while the Clippers’ new starting center, Isaiah Jackson, has had a much more mixed track record. Both teams finished efficiently on low volume last season, and although the Lakers lost their two most accurate high-volume finishers in James and Deandre Ayton, Dončić and Reaves are as elite as it gets for guards, and Kessler is a strong rim-runner. The Clippers lost their two best high-volume finishers as well, with both John Collins and Leonard leaving.
I also expect the Lakers to win the rebounding battle. They finished 12th in total rebounding percentage to the Clippers’ 23rd before adding a man who ranked fifth in rebounds per game in 2024/25, although both teams did a good job on the glass in their season opener. The Lakers were slightly better in transition than the Clippers were, and both teams are projected to take a step back in that aspect of the game now that James (who led the league in fast-break points per game last season) and Leonard (who ranked fourth in the same category) are now gone. Both teams were disciplined and good at getting to the charity stripe in 2025/26, and though both struggled with fouls in their season opener, the Lakers were efficient from the line and the Clippers were not.
The Lakers should have the shooting edge. Both teams were among the worst at generating wide-open threes last season, but the Lakers have more personnel to hit contested shots than the Clippers do. Last season, Dončić ranked ninth in three-point percentage over expectation and Reaves 50th, while the Clippers’ best shooter, Hachimura, doesn’t have the same volume, and their next-best shooter, Leonard, left. Both teams allowed similarly few uncontested looks in 2025/26, but in terms of perimeter defense, James’ departure is addition by subtraction for the Lakers and Leonard’s departure merely subtraction. In each team’s season opener, the Clippers out-scored the Kings from the perimeter more than the Lakers did the Warriors, but Darius Acuff Jr. isn’t exactly Stephen Curry.
Given the turnover on each team’s roster, both have a pretty wide range of outcomes for the season, but the Lakers have an advantage in basically every aspect of the game. They also have more chemistry in crunch time, as Dončić and Reaves will intimately understand the pecking order in such situations in a way that Garland, Wagler, and Hachimura will need to figure out. The Lakers were also three games better at home and the Clippers four games worse on the road, and cross-town matchups, regardless of venue, tend to be dominated by Lakers fans. Dončić and crew should get this one done by double-digits.
