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LeBron's Lakers Win an Eerily Subdued Battle for Los Angeles in Orlando to Restart the NBA

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Virtual fans and piped in crowd noise. A head-to-head between two ex-Finals MVPs played in front of a smattering of real faces. A battle for Los Angeles some 3,000 miles from Staples Center.

Lakers 103, Clippers 101.

The NBA is back.

Opening night in the NBA’s resumed season was finally upon us Thursday, and what a strange experience. A late-season Lakers-Clippers game would be a near impossible ticket in Los Angeles. Fans would pack LA Live hours before tipoff. Scalpers would have a field day. In the bubble, witnesses to this marquee matchup were a dozen or so media members, a few more NBA staffers and a handful of players who bussed over to watch from socially distanced seats.