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LAL-LAC recap: Lakers take down Clippers for first time this season

LeBron James and Anthony Davis are too much for Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. We recap the fantasy basketball stats, highlights and bets.

Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis controls the ball as LA Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard defends in the first half at Staples Center. Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Lakers vs. Clippers final score, recap, stats

Lakers 112, Clippers 103

LAL-LAC Recap: The Lakers have defeated the Clippers for the first time this season. LeBron James and Anthony Davis had big games and Avery Bradley provided some extra shooting. The Lakers pulled away in the second half and improve to 49-13 and have a 6.5 game lead over the Clippers for first in the West.

The Lakers extend their win streak to four games and ended the Clips’ six-game win streak. The Lake Show has also knocked off their NBA Finals competition (potentially) in back-to-back games after defeating the Bucks on Friday night.

Let’s go over some stats and betting analysis:

LeBron James — 28 points, 9 assists, 7 rebounds — 54.25 DKFP
Anthony Davis — 30 points, 8 rebounds — 49 DKFP
Avery Bradley — 24 points, 3 rebounds — 34.75 DKFP
Kyle Kuzma — 8 points, 10 rebounds — 26.5 DKFP

Paul George — 31 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists — 50.5 DKFP
Montrezl Harrell — 20 points, 8 rebounds — 34.5 DKFP
Kawhi Leonard — 27 points, 2 rebounds — 32 DKFP

Over/Under total: 215 points
Lakers covered +2.5 point spread.

6:11 p.m. — The Lakers are up 112-100 and this one is pretty much over. If you had the Lakers on the spread and money line (like myself) you made out well. LeBron and AD led the way with Bradley the unlikely hero for the Lake Show. Kawhi and PG needed a bit more help.

6:06 p.m. — LeBron got called for a blocking foul and they confirmed the play after review. It looked like a charge and LeBron was planted, but it’s close. They say his foot was sliding. Clippers at the line.

6:04 p.m. — LeBron is going to the line with the Lakers up 107-99. Kawhi has come alive and has 27 points. PG is up to 31. AD at 30 points. LeBron up to 23 points. The Stars came to play. It’ll take a lot for the Clippers to get back in this with under 2:00 left.

6:01 p.m. — The Lakers are up 104-97 again, but AD has five fouls with plenty of time left. He needs to stay out of foul trouble, so we can expect the Clippers to feed Harrell down low to make get AD out of the game.

5:56 p.m. — The Clippers have pulled within 101-95 with under 5:00 remaining. Lakers ball.

5:48 p.m. — The Lakers have their biggest lead of the game at 99-87, the first double-digit lead of the game. AD has 28 and 7, LeBron has 22-6-6 and Avery Bradley has banged five 3-pointers. LeBron’s defense on Kawhi Leonard has been excellent. The total is at 186 points with 6:29 left in the fourth. The O/U is going to be tight and if you bet the live line early on, it may not pay off.

5:45 p.m. — Harrell is doing a nice job inside and is up to 20 points and 8 rebounds. His free throw misses are killing the Clippers a bit, but they’re only down 94-87 with just under 8:00 left.

5:38 p.m. Doc Rivers calls timeout with the Lakers pulling away at 90-81. This is the largest lead of the game at nine points for the Lake Show. LeBron has 21-5-6 now and is carrying his team early in the fourth. Can PG-13 get in there and lift the Clippers back in the game? Where is Kawhi? He needs to get it going.

The live line is all the way up to Clippers +7.5. There’s 10 minutes left in the quarter, so plenty of time for the Clippers to mount a comeback, which I ultimately think they’ll do. Whoever shifts to underdog seems to be in a good spot, even with the lead nine points.

5:35 p.m. — LeBron starts the fourth quarter with his signature step-back 3-pointer to pad the lead.

Third Quarter Update: The third is in the books and the Lakers lead 85-81. Here’s a quick stats recap with some betting lines:

LeBron James — 21 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals — 31.5 DKFP
Anthony Davis — 26 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals — 42.5 DKFP
Avery Bradley — 21 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist — 31.75 DKFP

Paul George — 19 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals — 46.25 DKFP
Kawhi Leonard — 17 points, 1 rebound — 18.25 DKFP
Montrezl Harrell — 13 points, 7 rebounds — 24.25 DKFP

Spread: Clippers +3
O/U: 222 — current total: 166
Money line: Lakers -182, Clippers +148

5:19 p.m. — LeBron is an OK passer — highlight via the Lakers:

5:17 p.m. — PG-13 just banged two threes and he’s up to 26 points. He’s really carrying the Clippers right now and they’re back in the lead at 66-65.

5:13 p.m. — The Lakers have gone on their run and are leading 64-60 halfway through the third quarter. Outside of PG and Kawhi, the rest of the Clippers roster is struggling. Meanwhile, Bradley is up to 18 points to lead the Lakers. He’s the player returning the most value on the DFS slate at $3,500. He’s got 24.75 DKFP in 21 minutes.

5:07 p.m. — Things are not going well for Marcus Morris so far. ... I’d like to think neither team is shooting particularly well because of the quality of the defense. I’m not 100% sold. Outside of LeBron, AD and Avery Bradley, the Lakers are cold as ice.

5:05 p.m. — There haven’t been many highlights in this one, but here’s some from Kawhi via the Clippers Twitter account:

Lakers-Clippers live line: The Clippers are 3.5 point favorites at halftime. The O/U has moved down to 213 after being 10 points higher before tip. The money line is Clippers -182, Lakers +145. I still think this goes down to the wire, so gimme the Lakers at halftime. One run and we’re back to back-and-forth basketball.

Halftime Update: 53-49, Clippers lead at the half. PG leads all scorers with 19 points and LeBron leads the Lakers with 16 points. The game has been as advertised so far. The point total right now is at 102, which is on pace for the UNDER to hit after coming in around 225.5 points. Here are some fantasy stats at the break:

LeBron James, 16 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists — 24.5 DKFP
Anthony Davis, 15 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist — 23 DKFP
Paul George, 19 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist — 33 DKFP
Kawhi Leonard, 12 points, 1 rebound — 13.25 DKFP

4:30 p.m. — LeBron is up to 14 points, but the Clippers lead 43-36. Right now, the live line of Lakers +5 is appealing. I still think this game will come down to the wire and a final possession. PG-13 having a huge game as we expected below, he’s up to 17 points with 3 boards and 3 steals through 12 minutes.

4:24 p.m. — The Clippers are starting to pull away with PG at the line. If he hits two, its 37-31, which gives them a bit of a cushion. The last time the Clips went up, the Lakers responded. Let’s see if that’s the case again. Play is picking up a bit, but the under is still on track.

4:10 p.m. Lou Williams and Kyle Kuzma just cooked each other, respectively, in back-to-back possessions and the Lakers lead 27-25 after the first quarter. Here’s an update on some stats leaders:

Anthony Davis — 9 points, 2 rebounds in 10 minutes — 14.5 DKFP
LeBron James — 5 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist in 7 minutes — 7.75 DKFP
Paul George — 9 points, 3 rebounds in 7 minutes — 12.75 DKFP
Kawhi Leonard — 6 points, 1 rebound in 9 minutes — 7.25 DKFP

4:02 p.m. — We’re at the break and its 20-20. This game might go through a low of short lead changes. The lines could be very erratic, if it leans in favor of one team at any point, try and get some decent odds on them. LeBron and AD have a combined 11 points. Kawhi and PG have a combined 15 points. Lou Will got T’d up so one technical a piece on each side.

3:55 p.m. — LeBron has since got it going in this game. He’s up to five points and the Lakers are leading. I’d expect the rest of this game to be back and forth, trading blows. Makes the under very appealing the rest of the game. Check out the 1H under before the game total starts to drop.

3:53 p.m. Avery Bradley just got a tech and the Clippers are up 11-9. It was sort of exactly what the Lakers needed to spark a bit of a run. This is one of the wildest crowds I’ve heard in a while. Cheers followed by booos followed by cheers.

3:48 p.m. — PG-13 just banged a 3-pointer and the Clippers are now up 10-5. George is up to five points and a board in four minutes for 6.75 fantasy points. Real slow start for James at $11K. Nada so far.

3:46 p.m. — It didn’t take long for this to get chippy. 9:21 mark of the first quarter. Minor scuffle, nothing else. It’s just something to keep an eye on. This game is off the to a very slow start tied 5-5 after three minutes.

3:41 p.m. — We’re underway and here are the betting splits from before:

Lakers vs. Clippers Betting Splits

Team Odds % Handle % Bets
Team Odds % Handle % Bets
Lakers (+2.5) -109 44% 52%
Clippers (-2.5) -112 56% 48%
Over 225.5 -112 82% 84%
Under 225.5 -109 18% 16%
Lakers +120 60% 71%
Clippers -141 40% 29%

3:33 p.m. — Oh man, big time Morris Bros. narrative in this game. Marcus Morris is $4,700 and seems due for the Clippers. If this game plays fast, I could see Marcus having a solid game on the early slate. Markieff Morris ($3,000) hasn’t been seeing the court much, so narrative could be more impactful for him. I don’t expect much scoring outside the four superstars.

3:30 p.m. — And the Lakers starting lineup with AD in it.

3:25 p.m. — We’ve got about five minutes (or so) before the game starts. I’m going with the Lakers getting points (+2.5) and the juice on the money line. I think this game should be even, more of a pick ‘em. The value is there and the Lakers generally do well as underdogs ATS.

3:16 p.m. — Here’s the Clippers starting lineup:

I think PG-13 is my favorite play on the early slate at $7,400. This is such a huge game so I expect the best from LeBron, AD and Kawhi as well. Kawhi may have a better game, but PG is too cheap for his ceiling.

3:13 p.m. — We’re getting close to tip-off so let’s go over where both teams are at heading into Sunday. The Lakers have won three in a row, coming off that huge win over the Bucks on Friday night. The Clippers have won six in a row and are playing their best basketball since November. The Lakers have a 5.5 game lead over the Clips for first place in the Western Conference.

Lakers vs. Clippers lines, odds, over/under

Spread: Clippers -2.5 (-112)
Over/Under: 225.5
Money line: Lakers (+120), Clippers (-141)

Player Props

Kawhi Leonard O 25.5 (-125)
Lebron James: O 25.5 (-110)
Paul George: O 20.5 (-110)
Anthony Davis: O 26.5 (-121)

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