Lakers beat Clippers 103-87 without Luka Doncic as Quentin Grimes scores 23 and Collin Sexton adds season-high 21

The Los Angeles Lakers beat the LA Clippers 103-87 at the Intuit Dome on Wednesday night (US time; tip-off 2:30am GMT Thursday 29 October) without Luka Doncic, according to AP. The Lakers (4-1) won the derby for the second time in a week, and the Clippers (1-3) lost their third game in a row. ESPN lists attendance of 17,927.

Quentin Grimes scored 23 points on 7-of-15 shooting, including 9 of 11 free throws, with five assists and four steals, according to the NBA.com box score. Collin Sexton scored a season-high 21 points off the bench in 21 minutes, making 4 of 7 three-pointers, AP said. Austin Reaves had 16 points and Matisse Thybulle 15 on 5-of-6 shooting, including 4 of 5 from three-point range. AP said the Lakers had six players in double figures. Walker Kessler scored 11 points and Jake LaRavia had 10 rebounds.

Score by quarter (NBA.com): Lakers 25-31-29-18, Clippers 22-16-28-21.

Doncic out

AP said Doncic sat out with back tightness from the second game of the Lakers’ first back-to-back of the season, and starting forward Ziaire Williams missed the game with a sore left foot. Coach JJ Redick said both decisions were precautionary, according to AP. Doncic is averaging an NBA-leading 36 points per game this season, AP said.

The Clippers were without starting forward Rui Hachimura, who has left quad tightness, according to AP. AP described the Lakers as his former team.

How the game turned

The Lakers led 25-22 after the first quarter, according to the NBA.com line score, and 56-38 at half-time, according to AP. AP said Los Angeles scored 16 points in a row in the second quarter, and Reaves led the team with nine points in the half, with six different players scoring.

The Clippers, down 18, briefly rallied at the start of the third quarter, outscoring the Lakers 12-2 to cut the gap to seven, AP said. The Lakers then closed the quarter on a 27-15 run, with Sexton scoring 11 consecutive points, including back-to-back three-pointers, for an 85-65 lead, according to AP. NBA.com reported that Kessler’s layup made it 96-78 with 5:45 left.

The statistics

The Lakers shot 44.3% from the field (35 of 79) and made 9 of 31 three-pointers, according to the NBA.com box score. They had 31 points off turnovers to the Clippers’ 18, 24 fast-break points to 6, and 48 points in the paint to 28, NBA.com said.

AP said the Clippers again failed to hold onto the ball, with 24 turnovers, after 26 in each of their last two games, both losses to the Thunder and the Lakers. They shot 35.1% (26 of 74) and made 10 of 31 three-pointers, and went 25 of 27 from the free-throw line, according to the box score.

Rookie Keaton Wagler led the Clippers with a career-high 21 points off the bench, going 4 of 15 from the field and 10 of 12 on free throws, according to AP and the box score. Derrick Jones Jr. scored 15 with four steals and Darius Garland had 14 points and five turnovers.

The Lakers also beat the Clippers 125-117 on Friday 23 October (US time); see our report of that game. AP said the Lakers play at Golden State on Friday night (US time) to open NBA Cup group play, and the Clippers play at Minnesota the same night.

See also: Trail Blazers beat Lakers 136-129 as Luka Doncic scores 41.