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Lakers vs. Clippers Final Score: Lakers' Christmas Day miracle rally comes up short in 94-84 loss

Close but not quite, Lakers.

Victor Decolongon/Getty Images

The Los Angeles Lakers couldn't give fans a Christmas Day miracle in a 94-84 loss to the Clippers. The Lakers were down by as many as 28 points after scoring just 13 in the third quarter, but a furious fourth quarter rally brought the game down to single digits in the final minutes.

Outscoring the Clippers 27-9 through the fourth quarter turned an ugly game into a wild finish, with Doc Rivers needing to call his starters back in after they were prepared to rest through the final 12 minutes of the game. Kobe Bryant sat out of the entire fourth quarter in his final holiday game, ending the night with 12 points, three rebounds and three assists. Lakers fans rained chants for him to make an appearance down the stretch, but he finished out the game on the bench while the Lakers' bench unit tried to finish out the comeback they started.

D'Angelo Russell scored a team-high 16 points in 27 minutes, playing well off the bench. He was a big part of the Lakers' late-game push, breaking out of the "slump" he's been in lately. Julius Randle scored all 11 of his points in the fourth quarter, including a surprising three-pointer. Chris Paul finished with a game-high 23 points with six assists.

A blowout game turned into a Clippers meltdown, with the Lakers coming close to capitalizing on the fourth-quarter collapse. The purple and gold embark on a three-game road trip starting Sunday in Memphis. Happy holidays!

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