LOS ANGELES — The sight of Patrick Beverley strutting around with a finger aloft and letting the Los Angeles Clippers’ team owner, Steve Ballmer, wrap him up in a triumphant hug is not how LeBron James intended to celebrate Christmas. For the Los Angeles Lakers, it was the sort of dreaded scene that generates an aftertaste bound to linger — and maybe even encroach on James’s 35th birthday on Monday. On opening night back in October, with Kyle Kuzma and Rondo out injured, it was easier for the Lakers to rationalize their defeat. On Christmas Day — which is often billed as the marker on the mythical national sporting calendar when the N.B.A. begins to be consumed by a wider audience — it was tougher for the Lakers to take.

Source: New York Times December 26, 2019 18:03 UTC