The Lakers and Clippers made the NBA proud
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00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 The NBA returned to action last night
00:10 with the Jazz and Pelicans kicking it off.
00:12 And then it was highlighted by the Lakers'
00:15 win over the Clippers.
00:16 For more on that, I'm joined by our senior writer,
00:18 Chris Mannix, who is in the NBA bubble right now.
00:21 Chris, as a fan, I came away proud of the league
00:25 for its return.
00:26 How did you view it from inside?
00:29 It was definitely a surreal experience
00:32 watching a game like that that ordinarily would
00:35 draw 20,000 fans at the Staples Center played
00:40 in front of a fraction of that, mostly media and NBA staff
00:44 members.
00:45 But there were some definite weird moments,
00:46 whether it was Lawrence Tantor, the legendary Lakers PA
00:50 announcer, doing a prerecorded starting lineup for the Lakers.
00:53 In between quarters-- or in between timeouts,
00:56 I should say-- you had the Lakers showing
00:59 their in-house entertainment on one of the big screens.
01:02 I'm not exactly sure who they were showing it for
01:05 at that point, since it was only media and staffers
01:08 in the building.
01:09 But once the game got going, it was clear
01:10 that the players were not going to be
01:12 impacted by the environment.
01:15 They played pretty sharp basketball
01:17 after a sluggish first quarter.
01:19 LeBron had a tremendous moment-- two moments, actually,
01:21 at the end, offensively and defensively.
01:24 And you had a high-level basketball game, which
01:27 really, ultimately, is all the NBA could ask for.
01:30 Yeah, when you watch that game, I
01:32 don't know if you can come away knowing who would win a series,
01:34 but what were your impressions of the Lakers and the Clippers?
01:37 Well, I think both teams had to be
01:39 pretty happy with how they performed in that first game.
01:43 If you're in the Lakers, Anthony Davis
01:45 was brilliant, 30-plus points.
01:46 And he was dominant, especially in that first quarter.
01:49 LeBron didn't have the greatest offensive game.
01:52 But when it counted, he was there,
01:53 following up his own shot, getting the game-winning
01:56 bucket, and making an incredible defensive stop.
01:58 In his 17th season, he went out there.
02:01 And on consecutive moments, he stopped Kawhi Leonard,
02:05 and then he stopped Paul George attempting the game winner.
02:08 On the Clippers' side of the ledger,
02:09 they played well coming back.
02:11 And you have to remember what they're missing.
02:14 They had many of their players back in the lineup,
02:17 but Zubac, their starting center,
02:19 he had just gotten back into practice this week.
02:21 Patrick Beverly, same thing.
02:23 They were without two of the top six men in the NBA
02:26 in Montrez, Harrell, and Lou Williams.
02:28 So the Clippers hung in there with the top seed of the Lakers
02:31 team.
02:32 And if they think about it moving forward,
02:34 they know they're only going to get better
02:36 as they get guys back and they get the conditioning back.
02:39 So the Lakers won.
02:40 But I think talking to both teams after the game,
02:42 they both came away with things to build on.
02:45 And it's definitely good to have the NBA back.
02:47 Chris, appreciate your time, as always.
02:51 [BLANK_AUDIO]