The Los Angeles Lakers, who hosted the scorching L.A. Clippers on Sunday night, attempted to turn around their recent struggles.

Coming in, the Clippers had won 14 of 16 games while the Lakers had dropped four in a row. However, those winning runs came to a stop when the Lakers defeated the Clippers 106-103, their second close victory against them in as many games this season.

Paul George of the Clippers answered with two baskets, but Taurean Prince of the Lakers got things started with a triple. The Lakers failed to control the ball early, like they have been doing a lot lately, and the Clippers took advantage to lead 16–7.

After a timeout, LeBron James made a triple to get the Lakers back on track, and Prince completed a deft layup.

After missing three games, D’Angelo Russell made his Lakers comeback and contributed a block and an assist right away. Then, Max Christie entered the game from deep to tie it. But the Clippers put five straight points on the board to close the quarter and lead 24–19 going into the second.

Russell was struggling, missing his first four attempts before eventually making a layup, while James was able to continue his upward trajectory with two buckets early in the second. Sadly, Christian Wood’s careless closeout on Norman Powell resulted in a Flagrant 1 foul call, which gave the Clippers the upper hand.

The Clippers’ main offensive players were James Harden and Ivica Zubac, while the Lakers kept giving the ball away. After drawing a and-one on George, Austin Reaves eventually got involved, pulling his team within four points at the half (53–49).

Early in the third quarter, LeBron electrified the crowd by tying the score with back-to-back three-point plays, one of which included a massive poster slam on George.

From then, Cam Reddish got hot, making two triples to put the Lakers ahead. Russell eventually came alive off the bench for the Lakers with back-to-back triples, but the Clippers answered with a run.

The Lakers then increased their lead to 81-77 at the end of the third quarter thanks to two huge dunks and a huge block by Wood.

The Lakers started the fourth quarter playing with great intensity, scoring four points in a row to compel a timeout from the Clippers. From that point on, Russell maintained his intensity as the purple and gold tightened their defense, increasing their lead to double digits.

The Clippers immediately got back into the game when Normal Powell made a few key jumpers, which made the game very tight in the closing minutes.

After that, Davis started to work in what amounted to a rock fight, hitting from midrange to give the Lakers a three-point lead while the Clippers were calling their final timeout.

Zubac gave the Clippers an extra possession because he was putting the Lakers to death on the offensive glass all night, then Prince fouled Powell while he was trying to make a 3-point shot. Prince made amends right away by making an open triple after tying the score at the free throw line.

James then made a tough running layup, which was significant because, with 22 seconds remaining, Harden replied with a 3-pointer to cut the lead to just two points. After being fouled, Prince made two outstanding free shots. Reaves got an opportunity to follow up after a Zubac layup, but he was only able to convert on one of two. Powell was able to see the buzzer as it went in and out to give the Lakers the win and end their losing run.