The Los Angeles Lakers made an effort to improve on their recent troubles as they visited the sweltering L.A. Clippers on Sunday night.

The Lakers had lost four straight games going into the matchup, while the Clippers had won 14 of their previous 16. The Lakers’ 106-103 triumph over the Clippers, their second close victory against them in as many games this season, put an end to those winning runs.

Taurean Prince of the Lakers opened the scoring with a triple, but Paul George of the Clippers responded with two baskets. As they have been doing a lot lately, the Lakers failed to control the ball early, and the Clippers capitalized to take a 16–7 lead.

LeBron James nailed a triple to put the Lakers back on track after a timeout, and Prince finished with a skillful layup.

D’Angelo Russell returned to the Lakers and immediately produced a block and an assist after missing three games. Max Christie then made a deep run into the game to knot it. However, the Clippers scored five points in a row to end the quarter and take a 24–19 advantage into the second.

While James was able to maintain his upward momentum with two buckets early in the second quarter, Russell was having trouble and missed his first four tries before eventually making a layup. Unfortunately, the Clippers gained the advantage due to a Flagrant 1 foul call that followed Christian Wood’s negligent closeout on Norman Powell.

James Harden and Ivica Zubac led the Clippers’ offensive line, while the Lakers consistently gave the ball away. Austin Reaves finally got involved after earning a and-one on George, bringing his team within four points at the half (53–49).

LeBron thrilled the audience with back-to-back three-pointers early in the third quarter, one of which included a huge poster dunk on George to tie the game.

Cam Reddish then heated up, making two triples to give the Lakers the lead. Eventually, Russell ignited the Lakers offense off the bench with back-to-back triples, but the Clippers responded with a run.

Then, after two enormous dunks and a tremendous block by Wood, the Lakers extended their lead to 81-77 at the end of the third quarter.

The Lakers came out firing in the fourth quarter, going on a four-point run that forced the Clippers to take a timeout. Russell didn’t let up after that, as the purple and gold fortified their defense and extended their lead to double digits.

Following a couple of crucial jump shots by Normal Powell, the Clippers quickly regained control of the game, making the final minutes extremely close.

Subsequently, Davis entered the fray, launching a midrange three-point shot to give the Lakers a three-point advantage as the Clippers were in the process of calling their last timeout.

Powell attempted a 3-point shot, but Prince fouled him, giving the Clippers an extra opportunity. Zubac was killing the Lakers on the offensive glass all night. Immediately after tying the game at the free throw line, Prince made apologies by converting an open triple.

James then converted a difficult running layup, which was crucial because Harden answered with a 3-pointer with 22 seconds left, cutting the advantage to just two points. Prince was fouled and made two fantastic free throws. After a Zubac layup, Reaves had a chance to respond, but he was only successful on one of his two attempts. Powell saw the buzzer go in and out, giving the Lakers the victory and snapping their losing streak.