The Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers have clinched the NBA Playoffs of the 2022-23 NBA Season. The Los Angeles Lakers are the 7th seed (the standing of their record in the regular season) and will be facing the 2nd seed Memphis Grizzlies. The Los Angeles Clippers are 5th seed and will be facing the 4th seed Phoenix Suns. The two matchups for the Los Angeles teams are even if both teams are fully healthy.

The Lakers were hot before going into the playoffs winning the last 3 games in the season and one of those games being the Play-In Tournament to secure them in the playoffs so it will be interesting to see if they will keep that same energy and momentum in the 1st round of the NBA Playoffs against the grizzlies.

It has been reported by Woj from ESPN that Clippers guard Paul George will miss the entire first round of the playoffs for the Clippers with a knee injury that he got during a regular season game versus the Thunder on March 21st. The Suns have a superteam with KD, Devin Booker, and future hall of famer Chris Paul so we will see if the Clippers can hold themselves for the first round and win it against the Suns.

Game 1 for the Lakers and Clippers was on April 16th. The Lakers and Clippers were at the opposing team’s home arena and have secured their first win against their opposing team. Game 2 will be for the Clippers on April 18th. Game 2 for the Lakers will be on Apr 19.

With the Suns being at home, many speculate that the Suns will take this game and head to LA with the series being tied 1-1 which has been done and will head to the Clippers home stadium with the series score of 1-1.

The Los Angeles Lakers performed amazingly in game 1 with Rui Hachimuri having an excellent performance of 29 points, 6 rebounds, and 1 assists. Austin Reaves had a clutch performance in the 4th quarter securing the win and putting up 23 points, 4 assists, and 3 rebounds.

The Lakers struggled in game 2 with Anthony Davis putting up only 13 points and 8 rebounds. The defense performed poorly that night letting the Grizzlies dominate in the paint with Xavier Tilman being the Grizzlies leading scorer and the Lakers falling short with the final score of 93-103. With the series being tied 1-1, the Grizzlies are headed to LA for the next 2 games being at the Lakers stadium. Game 3 is on April 22nd for the Lakers.

Unfortunately for the Clippers, Kawhi Leonard will be out for game 3, 4, and 5 due to a sprained knee injury against the Phoenix Suns. This gives the Suns the advantage and wins the next 3 games win the series 4-1. The Clippers had a great season and with adding many assets ( role players or bench players ) during the NBA trade deadline, it will be interesting to see what they do in the offseason with these players. If the Clippers were fully healthy, many people think they could’ve been title contenders but unfortunately injuries have cost them the season.

The Los Angeles Lakers dominated in game 3 and 4 and with Lebron James in game 4 having a monstrous performance putting up 22 points, 20 rebounds, and 7 assists the Lakers go up 3-1 in the 1st round and go back to Memphis for game 5 on Apr 26.

The Memphis Grizzlies had a spectacular game at home in game 5 and superstar Ja Morant and Desmond Band combine for 64 points and the Grizzlies win it 99-116 and the series is now 3-2 and game 6 will be played at the Lakers home stadium.

Game 6 is on April 28 and is a must win for the Lakers to wrap this series up and go to the second round as if the Grizzlies win game 6, the Lakers will have a hard road game ahead of them at the Grizzlies home arena for game 7. The lineups are fully healthy for both teams.

On Apr 28, the game started slow for both teams for the first 6 minutes of the game but by the end of the 1st quarter, the Lakers were up by 13 going into the second quarter. The Lakers absolutely dominated in the 2nd quarter with the highlight of the night being Lebron James at age 38 throwing down a 2-handed reverse slam dunk. By the end of the 2nd quarter, the Lakers had a comfortable lead of 17. The start of the 3rd quarter, the Lakers didn’t give up their lead and kept the run going and by the end of the 3rd they were up by 33 with the score being 67-100. The Grizzlies centers and power forwards were in foul trouble and the coach decided to take out their starters for the rest of the 4th quarter. By the end of the game, the Lakers crushed the Grizzlies with the final score being 85-125.

The Los Angeles Lakers advance to the Western Conference Semifinals of the 2022-2023 NBA Playoffs and face Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors. The rivalry between Lebron James and Steph Curry continues and many fans are excited for this series as we haven’t seen them faceoff in the postseason (postseason is after the regular season and it includes only the playoffs and NBA finals) since the 2018 NBA Finals.