Pinto’s Preview: Clippers at Lakers

This game presents a very unique opportunity for the Clippers. The chance to nab their first road win of the young season. L.A.'s a perfect 6-0 at home for the first time in the 37 season history of the franchise, 0-2 on the road (losses at Phoenix and Utah). With the Lakers serving as the 'home team' in this game, it's rather ironic that the Clippers could secure their first 'road' victory in Los Angeles.

While both teams are finding ways to win, neither is playing at close to optimum. The Lakers are turning the ball over at a frightful rate of 19 per game, while the Clippers have yet to have a game in which they've hit 50% of their shots and have trailed in seven of their eight games at the end of the first quarter. What does that mean entering this clash? It means that both teams have work to do aiming for their ultimate goal of advancing deep into the Western Conference playoffs.

While the Clippers displayed tremendous resiliency in overcoming 23 turnovers, a night on which they failed to make a three point shot and a first half 16 point deficit to upend Philly in overtime on Saturday night 103-97 at home, the Lakers are coming off of sluggish 82-72 conquest of Chicago on Sunday. That Laker triumph was the first in five years in which they've scored as few as 82 points and won.

This game will pit Kobe Bryant at less than 100% physically (working his way back from summer right knee surgery) against the sticky defense of Quinton Ross. Elton Brand fresh off his best showing of the season (Saturday's virtuoso 33 point, 12 rebound, 5 steal showing against the 76ers) heads up with the versatile 6-10 Lamar Odom at power forward. And struggling Clips big man Chris Kaman versus 19 year old emerging young stand-out Andrew Bynum in the pivot.

There are intriguing individual match-up storylines fueling interest in this game, but more than anything else it's the Clippers tangling with the Lakers with early season stakes a bit higher than usual in the tight division race.

:: The Clippers to struggle to contain Lamar Odom (19ppg, 8.6rpg, 5.1apg) if he is assertive in looking for his shot. Odom has the tendency to defer to Kobe Byant when the two share court time and become a spectator. If he opts to lock into aggressive mode throughout this game, he'll be a handful for the Clippers to deal with. Given Odom's new-found long range shooting prowess (40% effeciency from 3 point range), he'll be tough for Elton Brand to chase around on the perimeter. The best individual match-up for Mike Dunleavy when it comes to Odom may be to try equally versatile 6-10 Tim Thomas against him. Thomas will need a consistently strong effort in this game to offset Odom's anticipated effectiveness.
:: The battle of the front lines to go a long way towards determining this game's outcome. The Lakers front court is fortified by the development of young Andrew Bynum, who has shown extended flashes of brilliance early this season, the outstanding play of Lamar Odom and the emergence of Luke Walton as a dependable fit at small forward. And the Lakers bring always dangerous three point threat Vladimir Radmanovic, bulky Kwame Brown and perimeter shooter Brian Cook (Ronny Turiaf has missed two straight games and may miss this one due to hip soreness) off the bench to augment the starters. The Clippers stable of Elton Brand, Chris Kaman, Quinton Ross, Corey Maggette, Tim Thomas and Aaron Williams will be hard pressed to gain the upper hand in this game on the interior, but they're capable of doing so. The battle of the boards and number of game altering defensive plays around the rim could be tale-tellers at night's end. Which front-line will have the upper hand?
:: Cuttino Mobley to rise up with a gem of a performance. Cat's most memorable individual game of last season came against the Lakers as he was spectacular with 36 points. He seems to rise up opposite Kobe Bryant, given the challenge that Bryant presents to his opponents in every game. Mobley and Kobe are both Philadelphia natives. That spurs the individual rivalry as well.
:: The team that does a better job protecting the ball and limiting the others easy scoring opportunities to emerge victorious. The Lakers are turning the ball over 19 times a game which has enabled foes far too many transition baskets for head coach Phil Jackson's liking. Early in the season, the Clippers were among the league's best at hanging on to the ball but in the last two games they've coughed it up an average of 21 times per contest leading to 50 points for opponents Utah and Philly. There will be fans for both teams in the building with energy rising when turnovers occur leading to crowd-pleasing open court finishes. The team that's most fundamentally sound without a mounting number of miscues will have it's fan base boasting when all is said and done.

Each of the last two seasons have shown the Clippers to be the best team in Los Angeles. The Lakers believe that they've positioned themselves to turn the tables this season with the quick coming of age of Andrew Bynum inside and the additions of rookie point guard Jordan Farmar and three point marksman Vladimir Radmanovic outside. But the Lakers aren't 100% physically in this game.

Kobe Bryant's a shadow of the player that led the league in scoring a season ago, Farmar may sit this one out with a sprained right ankle and crowd-pleasing robo-rebounder Ronny Turiaf may well miss his third straight contest with a sore hip.

The Lakers have benefitted from a soft schedule early, defeating the likes of Seattle, Minnesota, Memphis, Toronto and Chicago at home to fatten up their record. While the Clippers performances haven't yet conjured comparisons to last season's highlight reel of impressive triumphs, they have managed to handle Phoenix, Denver, Dallas and New Orleans/Oklahoma City likely playoff teams all.

My hunch is that the Clippers possess the personnel (defenders Ross, Mobley and Shaun Livingston) to contain Kobe given his somewhat pedestrian outings thus far. And I expect Sam Cassell and Livingston to be more careful with the ball than the Lakers primary ball handlers Smush Parker, Lamar Odom (3.8 turnovers per game) and Bryant (4.75 turnovers per game). Those advantages would seem to swing the pendulum in favor of the Clippers in a close game.

The great equalizer is hustle plays and if the Clippers lose the battles in rebounding, blocked shots and steals by a sizable margin their seeming edge on paper will vanish and this will be anybody's game. The atmosphere should be electric, the energy and intensity at pitches above the regular season norm making for one heck of a basketball show at Staples Center. Don't miss it!

Five Things to Know About the Los Angeles Lakers

1. Forward Luke Walton recently made a cameo appearance in television soap opera, The Young and the Restless.

2. Kobe Bryant’s parents named him after a type of steak seen on a restaurant menu prior to his birth.

3. Kobe Bryant’s second child, Gianna, was born 6 minutes ahead of former teammate Shaquille O'Neal's daughter Me'arah Sanaa, who was born in Florida.

4. Forward Lamar Odom made a cameo appearance in the movie Van Wilder along with Quentin Richardson, Darius Miles and Michael Olowokandi as Coolidge College Chickadees (members of the college's basketball team).

5. Center Kwame Brown is the first high school player ever selected with the first overall pick in the NBA Draft.