The Los Angeles Lakers won a nail-biter against the Philadelphia 76ers Monday as Jordan Clarkson once again displayed his penchant for late-game heroics.
Clarkson had 26 points on 9-of-15 shooting, none bigger than his game-winning bucket with 0.7 seconds left on a beautiful feed from Wayne Ellington. Ellington was doubled on the final possession of the game with the 76ers hoping to force a second overtime and found a cutting Clarkson for the winning score.
It was the second time in four games that Clarkson scored the winning points for Los Angeles - the rookie hit the game-winning free throws in the team's win over Minnesota last Wednesday.
The final basket capped a strong effort from Clarkson and his fellow Missouri backcourt mate, Jabari Brown. Brown, auditioning for a permanent gig with the Lakers in the final game of his second 10-day contract, scored a career-high 22 points on just 10 shots from the field. His ability to get to the rim and absorb contact offered a nice contrast to Ellington's pure shooting ability at the 2-guard spot.
After Philadelphia jumped out to an 11-point lead in the first quarter, Brown led the bench charge with six points and an assist in the second quarter to tie the game. Head coach Byron Scott showed enough faith in the former D-Leaguer to keep him on the floor during crunch time in the fourth quarter and the entirety of overtime.
The Lakers kept the lead for the majority of the second half until Thomas Robinson powered the 76ers back into the lead. Some timely shooting from Ryan Kelly - newly rejuvenated as a stretch four - and Clarkson helped the Lakers force overtime, when they prevailed in a very poorly played extra period.
Ultimately, though, everything that happens this season will be judged by its impact on the team's future. In that respect, tonight's win was a potentially colossal defeat for the Lakers' positioning in the upcoming draft lottery. Philadelphia certainly knew what it was doing, subsisting on a heavy diet of Nerlens Noel post-ups to end the game and showing little of the defensive intensity that limited the Cleveland Cavaliers to 87 points in their meeting yesterday. If Los Angeles ends up losing its pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, this will be the game to look back on.
Instead, the Lakers will celebrate their prized find of the 2014 draft and continue to build on some promising individual play from Clarkson, Kelly, Ellington, and hopefully Brown as the season comes to a close. Los Angeles plays its next game Wednesday at home against New Orleans.