Clippers-Lakers Preview

By ALAN FERGUSON
Posted Jan 24 2012 6:52PM

With Chris Paul leading the way, the Los Angeles Clippers prevailed in their first game against the Los Angeles Lakers earlier this month.

That's also the last time Paul took the court.

The Clippers are hoping to have Paul available for Wednesday night's rematch as they try to maintain sole possession of the Pacific Division lead by handing the struggling Lakers a fourth straight defeat.

Long the lesser of the league's two Southern California teams, the Clippers (9-5) took a big step toward closing that gap by acquiring Paul from New Orleans on Dec. 14. On the one-month anniversary of that deal, the All-Star point guard scored a season-high 33 points in a 102-94 win over the Lakers, who currently trail by the Clippers by one game.

Blake Griffin added 22 points and 14 rebounds as his team led almost the entire way despite Kobe Bryant scoring 21 of 42 points in the third quarter.

Paul, though, hasn't played since that game because of a strained left hamstring, sitting out his fifth straight contest in Sunday's 103-91 win over visiting Toronto.

The team said on its Twitter account that Paul hopes to play Wednesday, but will listed as questionable.

"You've got to play it on the safe side and be a little more cautious because of the compactness of the season," former Laker Caron Butler told the team's official website. "It's for the long haul and it's about having quality over quantity."

Butler returned from a hyperextended right knee during Sunday's victory, scoring 15 points, and Mo Williams shined again. The guard scored his team's first 17 points in the fourth quarter and finished with 26, his third straight game with at least 25.

Williams was out with a sore right foot during the Jan. 14 win over the Lakers, but scored 30 in a 112-104 loss March 25.

The Lakers (10-8) will try to avoid dropping a fourth straight game for the first time since Dallas swept them out of the Western Conference playoffs in May. They had a nine-game home win streak snapped Sunday, blowing a late three-point lead in a 98-96 loss to Indiana.

They failed to reach 100 points for the 11th straight game, the franchise's longest streak since a 12-game stretch Jan. 12-Feb. 2, 2004.

"There's some bit of frustration at all levels from all of us because we're not performing the way that we think we should right now," coach Mike Brown said. "There's not one particular reason why. It's just something little here and little there."

The Lakers, though, haven't been frustrated often lately in their designated home matchups with the Clippers, having won eight in a row. Bryant has scored 30 or more points in three of the past four, including 37 during the game in March.

His 31.3-point average against the Clippers over the last three seasons is his third-highest versus any opponent. Pau Gasol has provided at least 20 points in each of the past three home games against the Lakers' co-tenants, while Andrew Bynum has averaged 20.0 points and 12.6 boards in the last eight games he's played in the series.

Griffin has scored 22 points in each of his last three overall matchups, while Paul has averaged 12.3 points - 6.4 fewer than his career mark - in his past three road games against the Lakers.

The Clippers haven't won consecutive contests against the Lakers since the final two meetings of the 2006-07 season.

Lakers hold off Clippers in city rivalry game

By GREG BEACHAM
Posted Jan 26 2012 2:39AM

LOS ANGELES (AP) Moments after the final buzzer sounded on the Los Angeles Lakers' latest extravaganza of hard fouls, trash-talk and outright wrestling matches with the Los Angeles Clippers, Pau Gasol might have topped it all when he patted Chris Paul on the head.

Anybody who still believes the Staples Center's co-tenants don't have a rivalry should get his own head checked.

The Lakers' 96-91 victory Wednesday night is only going to heat up the simmering campaign for city supremacy.

Kobe Bryant scored 12 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, and Gasol had 23 points and 10 rebounds as the Lakers rallied from a fourth-quarter deficit for their first win this season in the cross-hallway rivalry. The game featured plenty of sharp play, including several moments of brilliance from Bryant and Blake Griffin, but also six technical fouls, plenty of extracurricular talk, and the ejection of the Lakers' Josh McRoberts for scrapping with Reggie Evans.

That's all before Gasol's postgame gesture prompted a furious response from Paul, who had four points and 12 assists for the Clippers in his return from a five-game absence because of a strained left hamstring.

"He touched the top of my head, and I didn't like that," said Paul, who nearly landed with the Lakers last month before the NBA squelched the deal. "You know what I mean. I don't know if Pau's got kids, but don't touch my head like I'm one of your kids. I don't know what his intentions were, like, `I'll treat him like little Chris.' I don't know if he's got kids, but I'm not one of them."

Gasol, who has no kids, insisted he was misunderstood.

"I'm sorry he felt that way," the Spanish 7-footer said. "I do that all the time with my teammates. Nothing mean about it."

When asked what Paul yelled at him after the game, Gasol called it "just trash."

Andrew Bynum scored 19 points as the Lakers snapped their three-game skid and finally answered the Clippers, who beat the Lakers twice in the preseason and again earlier this month, staking an early claim to L.A. superiority with their revamped lineup. The Lakers aren't ready to cede the city just yet - in fact, they were willing to fight for it.

"Everybody played with the right attitude, and guys did what they do best," Bryant said. "They had the right temperament. Everybody did what we do best."

Bryant put the Lakers in front with six points during an 11-4 run capped by Metta World Peace's 3-pointer with 3:30 to play. The Lakers nursed the lead into the final minute, when Bynum made a layup and blocked DeAndre Jordan's shot in the paint on consecutive possessions, essentially sealing the Lakers' ninth straight "home" victory in the rivalry.

Griffin had 26 points and nine rebounds, and Caron Butler and Mo Williams added 16 points apiece for the Clippers, who led for all but the opening basket of the first 3 1/2 quarters.

The testiness ratcheted up when Griffin and World Peace went down in a heap as they chased a loose ball at midcourt in the third quarter. Both teams surrounded the tangle of limbs and exchanged minor contact, but officials only ruled a jump ball.

"It was chippy out there because we both want to win and we both need to win," Griffin said. "I think they know what we're going to bring every time and we know what they're going to bring. So both teams are going to be ready, but we're not sitting here trying to call it a rivalry or anything like that. It's another game on our schedule."

The Lakers have won 10 of their last 11 home games since Christmas, and the Clippers still haven't beaten the Lakers twice in a row since the 2006-07 season. The Lakers still failed to score 100 points for the 12th straight game, matching their longest low-scoring stretch since early 2004.

Paul hadn't played since the Clippers' home victory over the Lakers 11 days ago, but his teammates stayed in first place in the Pacific Division during his absence.

"It felt great. That's the only good thing I can take from this game, that my leg felt progress," Paul said. "It was so great to get back out on that court. I just wish I could have helped my team out more than I did."

Griffin landed his nightly jaw-dropping dunk when he drove past Gasol on the perimeter and floated past Bynum for a double-clutch jam. Later, Griffin made a nimble reverse hook shot and a flying rebound putback dunk within a minute of each other.

The Lakers got unlikely offensive help from Andrew Goudelock, the rookie from College of Charleston who had scored just 10 points all season before matching that total midway through the second quarter against the Clippers. Goudelock hit two 3-pointers and didn't miss a shot until the third quarter.

Bryant committed six turnovers in the third quarter as the Clippers maintained their lead, and Mo Williams added the tension with a flagrant foul on Goudelock during a fast break early in the fourth. The officials attempted to keep peace with technical fouls - including two quick ones to McRoberts, who was ejected with 9:35 to play after two exchanges with Evans.

Chauncey Billups committed a technical foul during the Lakers' run to an 87-82 lead on World Peace's sixth 3-pointer in 38 tries during his dismal offensive season.

NOTES: Before the game, the Lakers sent second-year forward Derrick Caracter to Bakersfield of the D-League as he continues his rehabilitation from a torn meniscus in his left knee. ... Fans near courtside included David Beckham, Aziz Ansari, Jerry Bruckheimer, Mark McGrath and director McG.

Notebook: Lakers 96, Clippers 91

By Dan Arritt, for NBA.com
Posted Thursday January 26, 2012 2:19AM

THE FACTS: The rivalry between the Lakers and Clippers turned up another notch Wednesday night, as six technical fouls, a flagrant foul, a couple shoving matches and an ejection later, the Lakers prevailed with a 96-91 victory at Staples Center, evening the season series at 1-1.

QUOTABLE: "We're not going to score 110 points because we're not a fast-paced team or a high-possession team, but 96 points on 49 percent [shooting] was an efficient night for us offensively."
-- Lakers coach Mike Brown

THE STAT: The Lakers scored less than 100 points for the 12th consecutive game, equaling a franchise record in the post shot-clock era set during the 2003-04 season.

TURNING POINT: The Lakers took their first lead since a 2-0 start when Kobe Bryant sank a 3-point basket with 6:26 remaining in the game for a 79-78 advantage. Three minutes later, the Lakers led by two points when Bryant tipped an offensive rebound to himself following a missed jumper by Derek Fisher. He quickly fired a pass to Metta World Peace at the top of the 3-point line and he swished the basket for a five-point lead with 3:30 left. With just under eight minutes remaining, Bryant was the team's fourth-leading scorer but he produced 12 points down the stretch and finished with a team-high 24.

HOT: Lakers rookie point guard Andrew Goudelock got the nod to spell Fisher late in the first quarter and he came up huge, surpassing his season high during his first 12 minutes on the floor by scoring 10 points on 4-for-4 shooting. He finished with 14. Lakers 7-foot forward Pau Gasol also had a hot hand early, scoring 17 of his 23 points in the opening half. He also collected a team-high 10 rebounds. For the Clippers, Caron Butler made three 3-pointers in the opening minutes and scored the team's first 11 points, but he cooled off under the defensive pressure of World Peace and finished with 16.

NOT: Clippers point guard Chris Paul, who missed the previous five games with a strained left hamstring, showed some rust, shooting 2-for-8 from the floor and scoring a season-low four points. He did contribute 12 assists with no turnovers. None of other Clipper guards shot well either. Chauncey Billups, Mo Williams and Randy Foye were a combined 9-for-33 ... For the Lakers, small forward Matt Barnes was quickly yanked from the game after Butler's early surge, and he lasted only 3 1/2 minutes to start the second half before he was lifted in favor of World Peace. Barnes played just 11 minutes, compared to 39 off the bench for World Peace, who finished with a team-high seven assists and two steals.

GOOD MOVE: Clippers forward Blake Griffin, who finished with a team-high 26 points and nine rebounds, showed the Lakers home crowd his above-the-rim style, pump-faking Gasol on the perimeter, then driving baseline. He lifted the ball toward the rim, pulled it back down to his waist while in mid-flight and then stuffed it through the rim with enough force to rattle the sold-out arena.

BAD MOVE: Clippers center DeAndre Jordan committed the cardinal sin of blindly saving a ball under his own basket with about 2:30 remaining and the Lakers holding a three-point lead. Instead of getting the ball to a teammate, he threw it behind his back to World Peace, who passed off to Andrew Bynum for an uncontested dunk and a five-point lead.

QUOTABLE II: "A frustrating loss but it was good to get Chris out there. I thought we made them earn it at the end."
-- Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro

NOTABLE: For the second straight meeting, the Clippers won the rebounding battle against the Lakers, 53-44, despite coming into the game ranked 27th in the league in rebounding, compared to No. 3 for the Lakers ... The Clippers haven't beaten the Lakers as the visiting team since April 2007, a span of nine games ... Lakers back-up forward Josh McRoberts was ejected with 9:43 remaining after he and Clippers forward Reggie Evans received double technical fouls. On the subsequent play, McRoberts received a second technical for elbowing Evans as he came off a screen.

UP NEXT: For the Lakers, Saturday @ Milwaukee, Sunday @ Minnesota, Tuesday vs. Charlotte. For the Clippers, Thursday vs. Memphis, Sunday @ Denver, Monday vs. Oklahoma City.

• Clippers: Bledsoe, Leslie
• Lakers: Blake, Caracter

• Clippers: Billups, Evans
• Lakers: Bryant, Gasol, McRoberts, McRoberts

• Lead Changes: 4
• Times Tied: 5

• Arena: Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
• Officials: #32 Eddie F. Rush, #68 Marat Kogut, #71 Rodney Mott
• Attendance: 18997
• Duration: 2:31