![\"Kendrick](\"https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Kendrick-Perkins-drops-5-word-declaration-after-Luka-Doncic-destroys-Clippers.jpg?w=1200\")
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The battle of Los Angeles renewed on Friday night, and it was the first time that new Lakers star Luka Doncic got to be a part of the Hollywood rivalry.<\/p>\n
After a slow start in the first half, Doncic went off after halftime and finished the game with 31 points to lead the Lakers to a 106-102 win.<\/p>\n
Doncic has built a reputation as a Clippers killer during his career with monster performances in both the regular season and the playoffs.<\/p>\n
Of course, his game-winning buzzer-beater in Game 4 of their 2020 playoff series sticks out as a huge moment for Doncic against the Clippers, but he has had plenty of other big games against them.<\/p>\n
After the latest Doncic masterpiece to beat the Clippers, Kendrick Perkins took to social media to make sure everybody knows who is the boss between the two.<\/p>\n
\u201cLuka still own the Clippers,\u201d Perkins wrote on X.<\/p>\n
Doncic came alive in the fourth quarter, draining two stepback 3-pointers over Ivica Zubac to put the Lakers out in front and making a number of other big plays to help the Lakers get the win.<\/p>\n
His running mate, LeBron James, also had a big night with 28 points and 13 rebounds in the win.<\/p>\n
The Lakers are one of the hottest teams in the NBA lately, and they kept that going with this win. This was the fifth win in a row for Doncic and company, who have won eight of their last 10 games to vault up into fourth place in the Western Conference.<\/p>\n
If the Lakers can continue to play this way and rack up wins, they will have a great chance to climb as high as the No. 2 seed in the West by the time the playoffs roll around.<\/p>\n
There is currently a one-game gap between them and the Denver Nuggets for that second spot, so the Lakers are right there with 24 games to go.<\/p>\n
Getting that No. 2 seed would be huge for the Lakers because it would guarantee them home-court advantage in the first two rounds and ensure that they would not take on the Oklahoma City Thunder until the Western Conference Finals, if at all.<\/p>\n
If Luka Doncic and LeBron James can get hot enough to get to the final four, there’s no telling what they can accomplish.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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