KEY POINTS

  • NBA champ comments on Clippers vs. Lakers Christmas Day game
  • Lakers are on a four-game losing streak
  • Kawhi Leonard led all scorers to beat Lakers for the second time this season

An NBA champ may have made a biased comment on national TV about the epic Los Angeles rivalry between Lakers and Clippers.

During the Christmas Day showdown in LA, the Clippers proved they have what it takes to stop James scoring. And for the second time this season, Clips defeated their LA rivals. Shortly after the game, Boston Celtics legend and 2008 NBA Finals MVP Paul Pierce shared his interesting but a bit biased comments.

Speaking on ESPN SportsCenter, Pierce stated that “both teams were healthy but both teams were not on their best.” However, Pierce noted that the Clippers had an edge because “they believed” they had one. The NBA legend continued by saying the Clippers got “more mental toughness” than the Lakers.

“They (Clippers) have the Finals MVP; they have a coaching advantage – I believe – and they just got more mental toughness than the Lakers. The Lakers can learn something from this. They know they gotta get tougher if they want to beat the Clippers down the road in the playoffs,” Pierce said.

Pierce’s comments might be true and would have been just fine. However, Pierce happened to be one of the best players who had been under Doc Rivers, Clippers’ head coach, and was also a former Clipper himself.

LeBron Kawhi
LeBron James defends Kawhi Leonard during Lakers vs. Clippers NBA 2019-20 season opener. Getty Images/Harry How

After commenting on the Lakers vs. Clippers hard-fought game, Pierce went on and blasted the Purple and Gold’s four-game losing streak.

“We never saw a team that we are picking to it to the finals lose four in a row,” Pierce said about Lakers’ losing streak.

This was the second meeting in the so-called “LA Rivalry.” And for the second time around, the Lakers fell short against the Clippers. Not only did the Clips managed to succeed in more plays but they were also tougher than the Lakers on a lot of possessions.

The game was indeed a tight one and it had a lot of lead changes. The Lakers even exploded offensively and led by 14 points. But the Clippers showed their resiliency. During the closing minutes of the game, Patrick Beverley knocked the ball out of James’ hands on a possession in which the Lakers could have tied up the game and sent it to overtime.

In the end, Clippers shut down James and the Lakers 111-106. Kawhi Leonard reminded everybody that he is the Finals MVP scoring 35 points and grabbing 12 rebounds to lead his new team to victory.

Paul Pierce
Celtics star Paul Pierce welcome his first son to the world on Tuesday. Reuters