Lakers vs. Clippers Preview and Game Thread: Luka Dončić’s first battle of L.A. matchup

The Lakers look to extend their winning streak to four as they host the Clippers on Friday

The Lakers are back on their home floor on Friday where they take on their inter-city rivals, the L.A. Clippers. These two teams will face each other twice in the next three days to conclude their season series.

Currently, the season matchup is tied at 1-1.

Start time and TV schedule

Who: Los Angeles Lakers vs. L.A. Clippers

When: 7 PST, Feb 28

Where: Crypto.com Arena

Watch: ESPN, Spectrum Sportsnet

The Lakers’ 36th win of the season came at an expense on Thursday night after multiple key players were seen either hobbling or walking to the locker room during the game. For as commendable as their victory was against the now-eight-seeded Wolves, L.A. might just be short-handed on Friday against their previous hallway mates.

But that’s not to say that LeBron James and Luka Dončić won’t give it a go. We’ve seen James play on the second night of back-to-backs this season, including last week when he carried the team against the Portland Trail Blazers.

Same goes with the Slovenian native — who is celebrating his birthday on Friday — and is reportedly expected to compete in back-to-backs from now on. Let’s just say both their statuses are up in the air for this one.

With or without their main guys, the Lakers are in for a tough matchup regardless against the Clippers. They have actually lost three of their four games since the All-Star break and, knowing that they always seem to circle the Lakers on their schedule, I expect them to come out strong in this one.

They’ll also have the rest advantage as well as the motivation not to continue falling down the Western Conference standings, where they’re currently in sixth place (32-26).

The best way the Lakers can beat the Clips is if they shoot significantly better than they did in Thursday’s match against the Wolves (26.8%). Note that Ty Lue’s team is still the second-best defense in the league, so the purple and gold’s offense will surely be in for a tougher matchup on Friday.

Hopefully, the Lakers get much-needed contributions from the likes of Dalton Knecht, Gabe Vincent and even Dorian Finney-Smith.

The key to stopping the Clippers is to expose their below-average offense. The Lakers successfully did that in their last meeting when they blew them out. They limited James Harden to just seven points while Kawhi Leonard looked like a shell of himself.

It’s Norman Powell — who is noted as questionable for this — who normally carries for the Clips but we’ll see if he suits up. The biggest question is if the Lakers will have enough juice to put on their best defensive performance.

Hopefully, the Lakers will find a way to win and avoid any more injuries. The last thing this team needs right now is more injuries, especially since they have tough games ahead. Let’s see if the Lakers can pull off another impressive, feel-good victory against the Clippers on Friday.

Notes and Updates

• Since the Lakers played on Thursday, the injury report for tomorrow’s game won’t come until a few hours before tip-off. But already expect Rui Hachimura (knee strain), LeBron James (rest), Luka Dončić’ (calf injury recovery) and Jarred Vanderbilt (foot injury recovery) to be on that report.
• As for James, the four-time champion said that his hamstring is fine and his status will depend on how he feels prior to the game.

• For the Clippers’ injury report, only Norman Powell (left patellar tendinopathy) is noted as questionable.
• We will be live on Playback for this game, so be sure to join us!

You can follow Nicole on Twitter at @nicoleganglani.