The Los Angeles Lakers did not need Luka Doncic to beat their crosstown rivals again. Without their superstar guard, the Lakers beat the Clippers 103-87 on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, improving to 4-1 on the young NBA season and handing the Clippers a third straight defeat. Quentin Grimes scored 23 points, Collin Sexton added a season-high 21 off the bench, and six Lakers reached double figures in a performance built on defence, depth and a devastating second-quarter run.
Doncic was ruled out with back tightness on the second night of the Lakers' first back-to-back of the season, a precautionary decision after he played 37 minutes and scored 41 points in Tuesday's 136-129 home loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. Starting forward Ziaire Williams also sat out with a sore left foot. Coach JJ Redick said both players woke up sore after the Portland game and the team chose to be cautious. The Lakers answered with arguably their best defensive night of the season, holding the Clippers to a season-low 35.1 percent shooting while forcing 24 turnovers and scoring 31 points off them.
The first quarter was competitive, with the Lakers edging ahead 25-22, but the game changed early in the second. Los Angeles ripped off a 16-0 run that turned a two-point deficit into a 45-31 advantage, and the Clippers never recovered. The Lakers outscored the Clippers 31-16 in the quarter, holding them to just 17.6 percent shooting, and took a 56-38 lead into halftime. Six different Lakers scored in the second-quarter surge, led by Austin Reaves with nine points.
The Clippers briefly threatened after the break, opening the third quarter with a 12-2 run to pull within seven points. The response was swift and ruthless. Los Angeles closed the quarter on a 27-15 spurt, with Sexton scoring 11 consecutive points, including back-to-back three-pointers, to restore an 85-65 lead heading into the fourth. The final quarter was largely a formality, with the Lakers closing out a 103-87 win: 29-28 in the third and 18-21 in the fourth, after the damage had already been done.
Grimes was the Lakers' most complete player on the night, adding five assists and four steals to his 23 points. Sexton finished with 21 points, four rebounds and two assists, and he had already reached 21 points in just 17 minutes through three quarters. Reaves contributed 16 points and six rebounds, Matisse Thybulle scored 15, and Walker Kessler added 11 points and nine rebounds. Jake LaRavia grabbed 10 rebounds. Sexton and Thybulle each made four three-pointers, and the Lakers shot 44.3 percent from the field with a 48-41 rebounding advantage.
For the Clippers, Wagler's career-high 21 points off the bench was the brightest spot on a difficult night. Derrick Jones Jr. added 15 points and Darius Garland scored 14 on 4-of-12 shooting. The Clippers were without starting forward Rui Hachimura, who missed the game against his former team with left quad tightness. Their 24 turnovers continued an alarming early-season trend: they have committed at least 24 turnovers in three consecutive games and lead the NBA at 23.0 turnovers per game.
This was the second Lakers win over the Clippers in six days. Los Angeles beat the Clippers 125-117 at Crypto.com Arena on Friday, October 23, in the second game of the season, and the October 28 rematch at Intuit Dome followed the same pattern: the Lakers' depth and defensive pressure overwhelming a Clippers side still searching for rhythm. The Clippers have now lost three in a row, with two of those defeats coming against the Lakers.
The Lakers' start to the 2026-27 season has been strong despite a punishing early schedule. They opened with a 127-105 win over the Golden State Warriors on October 21, beat the Clippers on October 23, and won 132-123 at Utah on October 25 behind Doncic's 52 points. Their only defeat before Wednesday came on Tuesday against Portland, when Doncic scored 41 points but the Lakers gave up a season-high 136 points. Wednesday's response — holding an opponent to 87 points — was exactly the defensive statement Redick has been demanding since training camp.
Doncic's absence also underlined how much heavy lifting he has already done this season. The 27-year-old Slovenian started each of the Lakers' first four games and entered Wednesday leading the NBA at 36.0 points per game, while averaging 8.3 assists and 6.8 rebounds on 48.4 percent shooting from the field and 39.6 percent from three-point range. He also led the league with 5.3 three-pointers made and 13.3 attempted per game. The Lakers are in the middle of a five-games-in-seven-days stretch, and Wednesday was their first back-to-back of the campaign after playing every other day since the October 21 opener.
The headline of the night was simple: the Lakers beat the Clippers without Luka Doncic, and they did it convincingly. Redick had said before the game that with Doncic out, the veteran guard's usage and minutes would be distributed across the rest of the roster, and that is precisely what happened. Rather than one player trying to replace a league-leading scorer, the Lakers shared the load — six players in double figures, 15 steals as a team, and five players with at least two steals each.
The defensive numbers tell the story of the win. After conceding 136 points to Portland on Tuesday, the Lakers held the Clippers to 87, forced 24 turnovers and turned them into 31 points. Grimes led the steal count with four, LaRavia had three, and the Lakers' energy on the defensive end never dipped, even when the Clippers cut the lead to seven in the third quarter. It was, by several measures, the Lakers' best defensive performance of the young season, and it came on the night their best player watched from the sideline.
Sexton's performance was the emotional centre of the game. The former Alabama guard has spoken about wanting to be a defensive pest who changes games with his energy, and he lived up to that against the Clippers, hounding guard Cam Christie, shouting and smiling through possessions, and nearly getting into a confrontation with centre Brook Lopez. His scoring burst in the third quarter — 11 straight Lakers points — ended the Clippers' only real comeback threat of the night.
Sexton summed up his approach in a single line after the game: "Whenever I step between those lines, it's wartime." He added that he looks to "be a pest and change the game on the defensive side," a description that matched his night against the Clippers perfectly. Asked about his animated exchanges with Christie, Sexton said: "I was yelling, smiling. I knew he didn't want the ball; he didn't want the pressure."
Redick credited Sexton's mentality for providing the spark in a bounce-back win, praising the guard's aggression and energy after the Lakers had struggled on the first night of the back-to-back. Redick also stressed that the decisions to hold out Doncic and Williams were precautionary, with both players sore after the Portland game, and said the team wanted to be cautious with two starters during a dense early-season stretch. The hope in the Lakers camp is that both will be ready for Friday's trip to San Francisco.
Wins without a superstar matter more than ordinary wins, because they reveal what a team actually is. The Lakers have now shown they can win in two very different ways this season: behind Doncic's explosive scoring, as they did at Utah and against Portland, and behind collective defence and bench scoring, as they did at Intuit Dome. That versatility is valuable in a long season, especially for a team navigating back-to-backs, a five-games-in-seven-days stretch, and the NBA Cup schedule ahead.
For the Clippers, the concern runs deeper than one loss. At 1-3, they have dropped three straight, lost twice to the Lakers, and are turning the ball over at a league-worst rate. Turnovers have reached at least 24 in three consecutive games, and Wednesday's season-low shooting night of 35.1 percent suggests an offence that is not yet settled. Wagler's emergence as a rookie scoring option is a genuine positive, but the Clippers need their veterans and their ball security to improve quickly if they are to avoid falling behind in the Western Conference race.
The result also sharpens the early-season picture in Los Angeles. The Lakers now own both meetings between the crosstown rivals this season, and they did the second one without the league's leading scorer. For a rivalry that is often decided by star power, that is a statement — and a reminder that the Lakers' supporting cast, led by Grimes, Sexton, Reaves and Thybulle, is capable of winning games on its own.
The Lakers now head to San Francisco for a Friday, October 30, game against the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center, a matchup that will test whether Wednesday's defensive intensity travels on the road. The key question is Doncic's availability: the Lakers hope he will be ready, along with Williams, after the precautionary rest, but the team has given no firm guarantee. If Doncic returns, the Lakers will look to build on a 4-1 start against a Warriors side that has already lost to them once this season.
The Clippers, meanwhile, must use the coming days to fix their turnover problem and find a steadier offensive rhythm before their skid grows. With Hachimura also working back from quad tightness, their rotation is not yet settled, and the early-season schedule offers little breathing room. Their next performances will show whether Wednesday was a blip caused by a short-handed, high-energy opponent — or the start of a pattern that could define their autumn.
What was the final score of Lakers vs Clippers on October 28, 2026?
The Lakers beat the Clippers 103-87 at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, on Wednesday, October 28, 2026.
Why did Luka Doncic miss the game?
Doncic was held out with back tightness on the second night of a back-to-back, after scoring 41 points against Portland on Tuesday. Coach JJ Redick said the decision was precautionary, as Doncic woke up sore after the Portland game.
Who led the Lakers in scoring?
Quentin Grimes led the Lakers with 23 points, five assists and four steals. Collin Sexton added a season-high 21 points off the bench, Austin Reaves scored 16 and Matisse Thybulle scored 15.
What are the Lakers' and Clippers' records now?
The Lakers improved to 4-1, while the Clippers fell to 1-3 after their third consecutive defeat.
When do the Lakers play next?
The Lakers travel to San Francisco to face the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center on Friday, October 30, 2026, with hopes that Doncic and Ziaire Williams will be available.
Related coverage on US News Pulse: Stephen Curry Drops 44 Points as Warriors Hold Off Timberwolves 119-114, Knicks Beat Bulls 133-127 as Brunson's 38 Fuels Stunning Comeback Win in Chicago, and Rockets Beat Bucks 132-100 as VanVleet Erupts and Houston Stays Perfect at 5-0.
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