I love writing this blog, but there are some duties I don't relish. The worst is this one: trying to write a worthwhile recap of a blowout loss - of a west coast game that ends at 10 PM - when I still have to write a preview for another game tomorrow.
The Clippers led the Lakers by points 8 early in the second half, were tied at 47 with less than two minutes to go in the half and trailed by three at halftime. That is to say, this was a very competitive game through 24 minutes.
In the second half, the Lakers outscored the Clippers 73 to 36. Neither one of those numbers is pretty. Together, they're absurd.
The 40 point final margin is the Clippers worst defeat of the season.
From the very start of the third quarter, the Lakers played smothering defense and ramped up their execution on offense. With the Clippers taking the ball out of the net, they were unable to run out for easy baskets. And with Chris Kaman sitting out his third consecutive game, they had no inside presence in the half cout.
Clearly the Lakers didn't enjoy losing last week, and weren't planning on doing it again.
The good news is that there's another game tomorrow night, so there's no time to dwell on this debacle. The bad news is that tomorrow's game is against LeBron James and the Cavs, so we could be in for Debacle II, the sequel.
At least the starters got to rest in the fourth.