Bronny James shines, but summer Lakers fall to Clippers
In their third game of the Las Vegas summer league, the Los Angeles Lakers took on the Los Angeles Clippers and looked to build on their victory on Saturday over the New Orleans Pelicans.
Monday's game between the Lakers and Clippers was an ugly one. Neither team shot above 40% from the field or 30% from 3-point range, and they combined for 36 turnovers. Los Angeles was just 5-of-13 from the free throw line and 34.4% overall from the field.
L.A. gave up 10 unanswered points in the first quarter and fell behind 19-10. It fought back to make things competitive, but down the stretch, it couldn't manufacture points, as it didn't score in the final three minutes of play, leading to a 67-58 loss.
Still, this was a good night for Bronny James. The second-year Lakers guard scored a dozen points in the first half and finished with 17 points on 6-of-10 field-goal shooting and 3-of-5 from 3-point range, five rebounds and five assists. He looks a lot more poised and comfortable on the court than he did just several months ago, and he didn't look to force things offensively.
Forward Cole Swider scored 16 points, with eight of them coming in the fourth quarter. But it was a rough game for Dalton Knecht, who made just three of his 15 shot attempts and one of his eight 3-point tries.
L.A.'s reserves scored a total of just two points, with both points coming on free throws.
For the Clippers, forward Jordan Miller had a game-high 19 points.
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