Lakers defeat Clippers, 77-65, in Las Vegas Summer League

LAS VEGAS — If what happened here carries over into the Battle of L.A., the Lakers would be thrilled.

The Lakers beat the Clippers, 77-65, on Monday evening at Cox Pavilion in the Las Vegas Summer League, something that didn’t happen during the 2012-13 regular season, when the Clippers won all four intracity meetings.

Of course, the Lakers also defeated their Staples Center rivals last year at this time and it didn’t portend any greatness.

“They had Adam Morrison,” Lakers center Robert Sacre reminded reporters. “We might have had a terrible record, but we still beat these guys.”

The Lakers were 1-4, to be exact, a record they will not repeat after improving to 2-1 heading into the tournament portion of summer league play that starts Wednesday. Their opponent will be determined after teams are seeded.

Forward Marcus Landry scored 16 points and guard Lester Hudson had 13 points, nine rebounds and four assists for the Lakers, who held the Clippers (1-2) to 35.8% shooting.

Clippers rookie Reggie Bullock was particularly cold, making only five of 16 shots and two of eight three-point attempts on the way to a team-high 12 points. Sharpshooter Scott Wood missed all five of his shots and all four three-point tries, continuing his struggles.

“Scott Wood, who’s a great shooter, he had four good looks,” Clippers summer league Coach Tyronn Lue said. “Reggie missed some open shots early. We had the shots we wanted to get, we just weren’t able to make them.”

Elias Harris and Chris Douglas-Roberts scored 12 points apiece for the Lakers, who pulled away in the third quarter after leading only 42-40 at halftime.

The Lakers realize this isn’t the most meaningful time to beat the Clippers; that will come starting in November.

“That’s the big key, the battle in L.A.,” said Sacre, who had eight points and three rebounds. “We’ll be all right. We’ll be fine.”

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