Heading into the Los Angeles Lakers’ March 8 showdown against the Los Angeles Clippers, there was significant doubt over whether the Purple and Gold could defeat L.A.’s “other” team.
Well, the Lakers did just that, 112-103, and it taught Avery Bradley something important about his team.
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“Well, I can’t say in the first two meetings. I feel like we didn’t play to our potential,” Bradley said when asked on Inside the Green Room about the potential they showed on March 8.
“In the last game, I felt like we were just a much better team. We knew we were better than what we played the two previous games, and we knew we had room for improvement. We made that room, and we still have much more room for improvement, but we just came out with the mindset of be the tougher team, the team that was going to be able to execute, the team that was going to be able to fight through the adversity and be able to respond throughout the entire game, and I felt like we did a great job of doing that.”
Bradley played the first half of last season with the Clippers before being traded to the Memphis Grizzlies. He struggled while in L.A., but seemed to find his game in Memphis later in the season.
This season, Bradley struggled mightily in November and December. But his shooting improved considerably after the new year as he started to become the player he once was just a few years ago.
Not only has Bradley been a significant contributor offensively of late, but his on-ball defense against opposing point guards has also been a big help.
Against the Clippers, Bradley had probably his best game as a Laker. He put up a season-high 24 points on 9-of-17 shooting and 6-of-12 from 3-point range.
Thanks to Bradley, the Lakers were able to take charge in the third quarter, despite LeBron James being quiet offensively during that period.
