At the start of last season, when the Clippers and Lakers met on opening night, Doc Rivers elected to match the Lakers’ size with a big frontcourt of his own by starting Ivica Zubac and Patrick Patterson. Fast forward a year (and some), and Ty Lue had those some players at his disposal against a similarly large Lakers team. But he made a different choice, banking on the Clippers’ speed and versatility rather than trying to match up with the opponent.
It certainly helped that the Clippers had Paul George available this time around, even though Kawhi Leonard was good enough that night.