Iztok Franko: Lakers Game Observations: Game 43 @ Clippers

January 23, 2026 at 8:25 am

FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

Late Lakers run not enough, but they might have found something along the way.

The Lakers almost made another comeback, but this time the hole was too deep to crawl all the way out, falling 112–104 to the Clippers.

If we are looking for positives, though, amid all the drama surrounding the team at the moment, there was still a lot of fight at the end. After it looked like they had given up while falling behind by as much as 26 in the third quarter, the Lakers clawed their way back to as close as two points. It was a familiar scenario for the third straight game: an uninspiring start, followed by a late push, but in the end they simply couldn’t make enough shots to complete a massive turnaround.

Source: NBA dot com

But as up and down as the game was, the post-game interviews brought some light to why the team is so unpredictable and vulnerable to swings at the moment.

digginbasketball is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Today’s notes:

Lakers not ready for a playoff-like fight and whistle early

Every man for himself

More drama in an already difficult season

Small-ball, big pressure led by Vando (VIDEO)

More John Collins thoughts (VIDEO)

1-Lakers not ready for a playoff-like fight and whistle early

The biggest takeaway from the start of the game was that the Lakers got punched first and needed more than half the game to respond. The refs allowed a lot of physicality on both ends, and the Clippers took much better advantage of it. I wrote last week about the NBA making another adjustment to how fouls are called, and this game was a perfect example of it. Kris Dunn’s hands were everywhere—he easily could have had 10 fouls or more if what was called earlier in the season was still being whistled now.

𝐏𝐮𝐫𝐩𝑮𝒐𝒍𝒅
@PurpGolded
Who tf isn’t cutting their nails on the Clippers?!

9:26 PM · Jan 22, 2026 · 29.6K Views
20 Replies · 31 Reposts · 1.2K Likes

And Ivica Zubac was simply bullying his way through Deandre Ayton, Jaxson Hayes, and every Laker in his path, finishing with 19 rebounds, 10 of them on the offensive glass, and giving the Clippers a huge edge on the boards.

Source: Cleaning the Glass

The Lakers eventually adjusted and turned the force up later in the game, but the long adaptation period proved too costly overall.

2-Every man for himself

What the Clippers’ early force achieved was pushing the Lakers out of their actions, out of their offensive rhythm, and out of their comfort zone. Luka Dončić was scoring early. He had 14 points in the first quarter but needed 11 shots to get there and struggled with his three-point shot all night. And when he tried to get his teammates involved, they were either missing layups, missing open shots, or, in Ayton’s case, simply lacking the focus to follow up and finish lobs. The Lakers had six of their 10 total turnovers in the second quarter, and most of them were committed by role players rather than the playmakers.

Things escalated at the beginning of the second half, when after a couple of missed opportunities everyone started looking for their own shot, including calling their own numbers on ATO plays.

Postgame, JJ Redick highlighted the lack of ball movement as the biggest blueprint for the Lakers’ early struggles, saying it starts with Luka trusting the pass. Redick has not been shy about challenging his players, including Dončić, and to their credit, I think both have managed to respond positively to moments like this. To be fair to Dončić, there was also a stark difference in spacing and outlet options around him compared to James Harden. Ayton struggled to follow his ideas in pick actions, while the spacing was even more limited with Hayes on the floor because another non-shooter, Vanderbilt, was also out there.

3-More drama in an already difficult season

One has to wonder how much of the Lakers’ on-court chemistry, or at times lack of it, stems from the off-court drama that has followed the team since the offseason—from the moment LeBron James didn’t receive a new extension, to his agent’s podcast controversies, and most recently the ESPN story on a Buss family Succession-like fallout, both internally and even between the last Buss standing, Jeanie Buss, and LeBron James. James’ postgame comments on the latter were another indication of how uncomfortable the end of his Lakers tenure is becoming.

If you add that to another challenge—one Redick admitted publicly for the first time—of much of the roster playing on expiring deals, it becomes easier to understand why this team is so susceptible to swings on the court.

To the Lakers’ credit, with all of that in mind and down 26 in the middle of the third quarter, they didn’t fall apart. Dončić led the first charge late in the third, in his usual style, scoring and finding teammates for lobs.

4-Small-ball, big pressure led by Vando (VIDEO)

The interesting thing about this game was that, while watching, it felt like the Lakers were actually playing solid defense, but it was offset by their poor offensive rhythm early. Dončić had a solid defensive game, staying in front of James Harden on several possessions. And that was before they really turned up the pressure and eventually became the aggressors in the fourth.

After Ayton’s struggles, Redick benched him again following a short stint in the third quarter and went to smaller lineups with Drew Timme at the five in the fourth. With the smaller lineup, the Lakers played even more aggressively, blitzing James Harden and doing a great job scrambling on the back end. It was the same strategy they employed against Jamal Murray in the previous game, when I wrote that this aggressive, scrambling scheme is the best way to utilize the motor, hands, and defensive playmaking of Smart, LaRavia, Vanderbilt, and even James and Dončić.

Vanderbilt probably had his best defensive half of the season, flipping the tone of the game with his energy and being everywhere down the stretch.

So even though they lost this one, I think Redick and his staff have found something over the last couple of games with smaller, more aggressive units, reminiscent of last year’s small-ball lineups with Dorian Finney-Smith that had a lot of success in the second half of the season.

5-More John Collins thoughts (VIDEO)

For those who missed it, with the trade deadline nearing, I’ve started embedding analysis and thoughts on interesting players into my game coverage. That began with a deeper dive on Peyton Watson in the Denver preview and observations, and continued with a closer look at John Collins, who will be a free agent this summer, in yesterday’s preview for this game.

In a way, this game was a perfect encapsulation of how I described Collins yesterday: a bigger, more athletic version of Rui Hachimura, and one of the better low-usage, high-efficiency play finishers in the league. Collins scored 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting at just 11% usage, with all of his makes coming as an outlet for James Harden or Kawhi Leonard after they created the advantage. Collins showed a full portfolio of ways to keep and close those advantages: finishing in transition, attacking closeouts for layups at the rim or soft mid-range jumpers, providing a baseline lob outlet, and finally icing the game with his trademark corner three. As I noted yesterday, the data backs that up—he’s among the best corner snipers in the league.

Collins wouldn’t make much sense on the current roster, as the Lakers already have plenty of players at the power forward spot with James, Hachimura, and Vanderbilt. He could, however, become an intriguing option in a hypothetical rebuilt roster centered around Dončić, if he were, say, a fifth- or, even better, a sixth-man type.

Comments

LakerTom says

January 23, 2026 at 8:25 am

FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

Late Lakers run not enough, but they might have found something along the way.

The Lakers almost made another comeback, but this time the hole was too deep to crawl all the way out, falling 112–104 to the Clippers.

If we are looking for positives, though, amid all the drama surrounding the team at the moment, there was still a lot of fight at the end. After it looked like they had given up while falling behind by as much as 26 in the third quarter, the Lakers clawed their way back to as close as two points. It was a familiar scenario for the third straight game: an uninspiring start, followed by a late push, but in the end they simply couldn’t make enough shots to complete a massive turnaround.

Source: NBA dot com

But as up and down as the game was, the post-game interviews brought some light to why the team is so unpredictable and vulnerable to swings at the moment.

digginbasketball is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Today’s notes:

Lakers not ready for a playoff-like fight and whistle early

Every man for himself

More drama in an already difficult season

Small-ball, big pressure led by Vando (VIDEO)

More John Collins thoughts (VIDEO)

1-Lakers not ready for a playoff-like fight and whistle early

The biggest takeaway from the start of the game was that the Lakers got punched first and needed more than half the game to respond. The refs allowed a lot of physicality on both ends, and the Clippers took much better advantage of it. I wrote last week about the NBA making another adjustment to how fouls are called, and this game was a perfect example of it. Kris Dunn’s hands were everywhere—he easily could have had 10 fouls or more if what was called earlier in the season was still being whistled now.

𝐏𝐮𝐫𝐩𝑮𝒐𝒍𝒅
@PurpGolded
Who tf isn’t cutting their nails on the Clippers?!

9:26 PM · Jan 22, 2026 · 29.6K Views
20 Replies · 31 Reposts · 1.2K Likes

And Ivica Zubac was simply bullying his way through Deandre Ayton, Jaxson Hayes, and every Laker in his path, finishing with 19 rebounds, 10 of them on the offensive glass, and giving the Clippers a huge edge on the boards.

Source: Cleaning the Glass

The Lakers eventually adjusted and turned the force up later in the game, but the long adaptation period proved too costly overall.

2-Every man for himself

What the Clippers’ early force achieved was pushing the Lakers out of their actions, out of their offensive rhythm, and out of their comfort zone. Luka Dončić was scoring early. He had 14 points in the first quarter but needed 11 shots to get there and struggled with his three-point shot all night. And when he tried to get his teammates involved, they were either missing layups, missing open shots, or, in Ayton’s case, simply lacking the focus to follow up and finish lobs. The Lakers had six of their 10 total turnovers in the second quarter, and most of them were committed by role players rather than the playmakers.

Things escalated at the beginning of the second half, when after a couple of missed opportunities everyone started looking for their own shot, including calling their own numbers on ATO plays.

Postgame, JJ Redick highlighted the lack of ball movement as the biggest blueprint for the Lakers’ early struggles, saying it starts with Luka trusting the pass. Redick has not been shy about challenging his players, including Dončić, and to their credit, I think both have managed to respond positively to moments like this. To be fair to Dončić, there was also a stark difference in spacing and outlet options around him compared to James Harden. Ayton struggled to follow his ideas in pick actions, while the spacing was even more limited with Hayes on the floor because another non-shooter, Vanderbilt, was also out there.

3-More drama in an already difficult season

One has to wonder how much of the Lakers’ on-court chemistry, or at times lack of it, stems from the off-court drama that has followed the team since the offseason—from the moment LeBron James didn’t receive a new extension, to his agent’s podcast controversies, and most recently the ESPN story on a Buss family Succession-like fallout, both internally and even between the last Buss standing, Jeanie Buss, and LeBron James. James’ postgame comments on the latter were another indication of how uncomfortable the end of his Lakers tenure is becoming.

If you add that to another challenge—one Redick admitted publicly for the first time—of much of the roster playing on expiring deals, it becomes easier to understand why this team is so susceptible to swings on the court.

To the Lakers’ credit, with all of that in mind and down 26 in the middle of the third quarter, they didn’t fall apart. Dončić led the first charge late in the third, in his usual style, scoring and finding teammates for lobs.

4-Small-ball, big pressure led by Vando (VIDEO)

The interesting thing about this game was that, while watching, it felt like the Lakers were actually playing solid defense, but it was offset by their poor offensive rhythm early. Dončić had a solid defensive game, staying in front of James Harden on several possessions. And that was before they really turned up the pressure and eventually became the aggressors in the fourth.

After Ayton’s struggles, Redick benched him again following a short stint in the third quarter and went to smaller lineups with Drew Timme at the five in the fourth. With the smaller lineup, the Lakers played even more aggressively, blitzing James Harden and doing a great job scrambling on the back end. It was the same strategy they employed against Jamal Murray in the previous game, when I wrote that this aggressive, scrambling scheme is the best way to utilize the motor, hands, and defensive playmaking of Smart, LaRavia, Vanderbilt, and even James and Dončić.

Vanderbilt probably had his best defensive half of the season, flipping the tone of the game with his energy and being everywhere down the stretch.

So even though they lost this one, I think Redick and his staff have found something over the last couple of games with smaller, more aggressive units, reminiscent of last year’s small-ball lineups with Dorian Finney-Smith that had a lot of success in the second half of the season.

5-More John Collins thoughts (VIDEO)

For those who missed it, with the trade deadline nearing, I’ve started embedding analysis and thoughts on interesting players into my game coverage. That began with a deeper dive on Peyton Watson in the Denver preview and observations, and continued with a closer look at John Collins, who will be a free agent this summer, in yesterday’s preview for this game.

In a way, this game was a perfect encapsulation of how I described Collins yesterday: a bigger, more athletic version of Rui Hachimura, and one of the better low-usage, high-efficiency play finishers in the league. Collins scored 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting at just 11% usage, with all of his makes coming as an outlet for James Harden or Kawhi Leonard after they created the advantage. Collins showed a full portfolio of ways to keep and close those advantages: finishing in transition, attacking closeouts for layups at the rim or soft mid-range jumpers, providing a baseline lob outlet, and finally icing the game with his trademark corner three. As I noted yesterday, the data backs that up—he’s among the best corner snipers in the league.

Collins wouldn’t make much sense on the current roster, as the Lakers already have plenty of players at the power forward spot with James, Hachimura, and Vanderbilt. He could, however, become an intriguing option in a hypothetical rebuilt roster centered around Dončić, if he were, say, a fifth- or, even better, a sixth-man type.

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