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There was nothing good to come from tonight's game. The Lakers led 3-0, and that was the last bright spot for them tonight. With 5 minutes to play in the first quarter, Xavier Henry had already wracked up two fouls (he had three by the end of the quarter) and the Lakers were down 17 - 9. It only got worse from there, even as the Lakers closed the lead and got to within four going into halftime.
Just like they did against Golden State on Saturday, LA fell apart fantastically in the third quarter. They went down by 13, then got the lead down to 4 again, but that was as close as they got for the rest of the game. The lead ballooned up to 17, and just kept growing, hitting 20, then 22, then 24, and finally 27. At one point Pau Gasol bumped noggins with Miles Plumlee (who had a career night with 17 and 20) and ended up bleeding from a cut next to his right eye. That's the kind of night it was.
It was an ugly ugly ugly ugly game, but at least the next game is against the Heat on Christmas Day. Something to look forward to. Or nothing like that.