As he defied gravity and threw his outstretched arms, Blake Griffin didn’t just provide another highlight reel that will loop endlessly on TNT and ESPN.
A play that took all but eight seconds to happen exposed everything that went wrong in the Lakers’ 142-94 loss Thursday to the Clippers in a designated home game at Staples Center.
The Lakers lazily and slowly trudged back on defense. Wesley Johnson seemed more interested in trying to avoid appearing in Griffin’s next poster than offering any rim protection to stop him from soaring to new heights. The TNT cameras then captured Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak standing off to the side, wearing a stoic expression that surely masked his boiling anger underneath.
Where this all leads to beyond the inevitable high draft pick remains to be seen. But for one night, the Lakers showed the worst possible sign that things could become uglier in an already messy session.
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Follow L.A. Daily Lakers beat writer Mark Medina on Twitter. E-mail him at mark.medina@langnews.com