What the Los Angeles Lakers need to get past the Los Angeles Clippers
By Jason Reed
The Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers seemed destined for a Western Conference Finals matchup that will blow the roof off the Staples Center.
The NBA is heading into its disproportionate “second half” after the All-Star Break and the Los Angeles Lakers are the best team in the Western Conference with a 41-12 record while the Los Angeles Clippers are the third-best team with a 37-18 record.
While the Lakers have the overall record advantage over the Clippers, the Clippers have the head-to-head advantage. The Clippers defeated the Lakers on both Opening Night and Christmas, giving Clipper fans plenty of fodder over Laker fans.
The regular season record book is thrown out in the playoffs and if the two LA teams meet up in the playoffs, which many expect they will, it will be a fresh start where either team can emerge victoriously.
Personally, as someone who covers both teams, I really cannot pick a true winner in this series. I think if the Lakers and Clippers played 100 seven-game series that the final win amount would be somewhere around 50/50. Anything can happen.
If we want to be definitively certain that the Los Angeles Lakers will emerge victoriously then we will need to see these two things happen.