Lakers, Alex Caruso stymie playoff-bound Clippers

Only six days remained in the NBA’s regular season by the time of tipoff Friday night at Staples Center, and if that seemed like nothing for two teams speeding toward the end of two very different seasons, it still felt like plenty of time for Clippers coach Doc Rivers and his Lakers counterpart, Luke Walton.

Plenty of time for the Lakers’ young players to make the most of their opportunities. Walton was optimistic, even as offseason vacations beckon.

And plenty of time, Rivers worried, for his team’s strong play to slip so close to the start of the postseason.

“We don’t want to get into any bad habits,” Rivers said before the game.

Both coaches’ hopes and fears played out during a 122-117 Lakers victory.

With starter Patrick Beverley watching in street clothes and key reserve JaMychal Green away from the team to attend the birth of a son, the Clippers showed none of the grit that has sustained their success all season.

The Lakers, meanwhile, were propelled by a career-high 32 points by Alex Caruso, a two-way player starting for only the second time this season. He added 10 rebounds and five assists and left the crowd standing after various baskets in the fourth quarter.

The Lakers left with raised fists and high-fives. Wearing an ear-to-ear grin, Caruso was mobbed my teammates after the final buzzer.

“That was a lot of fun for our group,” Walton said.

The Clippers (47-33), on the heels of a 32-point loss two days before to Houston, left with questions about their preparedness for the playoffs. They finish the season against Golden State and Utah, both playoff teams.

“I thought we assumed we were going to win the game,” Rivers said.

Bad habits?

“A ton of them,” he said.

Caruso turned those assumptions on their head.

With 48 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and the Lakers ahead by four points, LeBron James watched from the end of the Lakers’ bench, a Crenshaw hoodie honoring the slain rapper Nipsey Hussle underneath his black blazer, as Caruso sliced from the top of the arc to the rim for a layup and six-point advantage.

James pumped his fist and the Clippers called a timeout.

“We got the ball to AC,” teammate Rajon Rondo said. “We got out of the way.”

The Clippers’ Danilo Gallinari made a three-pointer on the very next possession but Caruso answered with another layup with 24 seconds remaining to make the lead five.

“The more time he plays, the more he shows what he can do, what he’s capable of doing,” Walton said of Caruso. “The more he makes a case for himself he lets the whole NBA see what we’ve been seeing.

“The message all the time right now is we’re gonna find people that are competing.”

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 25 points for the Lakers. Gallinari finished with 27 points, eight assists, six rebounds and three steals and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 20 points. But with Beverley out and Green gone, the Clippers’ league-leading bench was “horrible,” Rivers said.

Beverley sat for a second consecutive game as he rested a balky right hip, an injury that will not keep him from playing in the postseason, Rivers said. The absence left the Clippers without their best defender and the player who keeps the team focused.

The Lakers (36-44) scored 14 of their first 17 points inside the paint and ended the first quarter leading by five after forcing the Clippers into a shot-clock violation to end the first quarter.

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Clippers reserve Montrezl Harrell appeared to hurt himself with three minutes remaining in the third quarter and limped upcourt awkwardly, favoring a leg, but never glanced toward the sideline and no substitution was sent to replace him. Rivers later said he was “fine.” Harrell rose to block Johnathan Williams’ shot only minutes later, pinning the ball before it left the Lakers forward’s hand, but Jemerrio Jones scooped up the loose ball and scored on a layup for an 84-all tie.

The stretch was emblematic of the game in which the Clippers’ highlights were short-lived and unheralded Lakers made the right plays at the right moment.

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Twitter: @andrewgreif