Clippers-Lakers Preview

By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN
Posted Nov 01 2012 8:45PM

The new-look Los Angeles Lakers may be without Steve Nash when they try to avoid their worst start in 34 years.

Nash is listed as doubtful for the Lakers, who have dropped their first two games heading into Friday night's matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Lakers haven't started 0-3 since 1978, the season before they drafted Magic Johnson with the No. 1 overall pick.

They could be without Nash, who suffered a lower leg contusion in Wednesday's 116-106 loss at Portland.

"We'll see how it goes, see how it calms down some more, but I couldn't tell from this point," Nash told the Lakers' official website. "Maybe I'm too optimistic to say 'doubtful,' but it's definitely tough."

Steve Blake will likely start at point guard if Nash doesn't play.

If there's a positive sign for the Lakers, it's Dwight Howard's dominance Wednesday with 33 points and 14 rebounds. Howard fouled out with 19 points and 10 boards and missed 11 of 14 foul shots in Tuesday's 99-91 home loss to Dallas.

The Lakers, though, struggled defensively against the Blazers, who placed all their starters in double figures and shot 50.6 percent.

"We've got to learn how to play together," Howard said. "You've got to be good before you can be great."

This will be the fourth head-to-head matchup between Howard and Clippers big man Blake Griffin. Howard has averaged 25.7 points and 14.0 rebounds while shooting 66.7 percent in those meetings, and Griffin has averaged 18.3 points and 12.7 boards while making 45.7 percent of his field-goal attempts.

Neither Griffin nor Chris Paul had big nights in the Clippers' opener, a 101-92 home victory over Memphis on Wednesday. Those stars combined for 23 points but the bench picked up the slack with 49, led by Jamal Crawford's 29 points in his Clippers debut.

"I may be a little biased, but I think we're the best bench in the NBA," Crawford told the Clippers' official website. "A lot of us have said that this is the most talented team we've ever been on and a lot of that has to do with our bench."

The Clippers got only two points from Lamar Odom, who is beginning his second stint with the club after his ill-fated 2011-12 season with Dallas that came on the heels of seven campaigns with the Lakers.

The bench will be stronger Friday since Matt Barnes will begin his second stint with the team he began his career with after serving a one-game league suspension for resisting arrest. Barnes rejoined the Clippers on Sept. 14 as a free agent after playing the last two seasons with the Lakers, and will provide depth with veteran Grant Hill out with knee problems.

"Luckily, we have Matt who can step in and give us some more size at the 3," coach Vinny Del Negro said.

The Lakers won two of three meetings last season and captured the Pacific Division by one game over the Clippers. Kobe Bryant averaged 32.3 points on 53.1 percent shooting in those contests.

The Lakers are Friday's home team. The Clippers have dropped nine straight as visitors in this series between Staples Center co-tenants.

Clippers send Lakers to 0-3 start with 105-95 win

By GREG BEACHAM
Posted Nov 03 2012 2:27AM

LOS ANGELES (AP) The star-studded Los Angeles Lakers are off to their first 0-3 start in 34 years after a thrashing from the Los Angeles Clippers, whose younger stars are shining a whole lot brighter so far.

So, Kobe Bryant, when is it time to push the panic button on this grand experiment?

"Now," he said.

Chris Paul had 18 points and 15 assists, Jamal Crawford scored 21 points and the Clippers beat the Lakers 105-95 Friday night to keep their Staples Center co-tenants winless.

Bryant later said he was only joking about that panic button, but it's tough not to worry about a team that still hasn't walked off any court together with a victory.

Bryant scored 40 points and Dwight Howard had 13 points and eight rebounds while battling constant foul trouble for the Lakers, who are 0-3 for just the fourth time in franchise history. Steve Nash sat out with a bruised left leg for the Lakers, who have followed up their 0-8 preseason with three losses in four days.

"We need a win, obviously," Lakers coach Mike Brown said. "I'm not trying to fool anyone here. That's part of the reason Kobe played the minutes he played, which is too many."

Bryant logged 43 minutes on his bruised foot. While soaking it in ice after the game, he said it "felt like it's about to fall off."

"We're not supposed to coast and assume things are going to fix themselves," Bryant said. "You've got to push at it. We've just got to keep working on what we do."

The Clippers are no strangers to franchise turmoil, yet they coolly snapped a nine-game "road" losing streak against the Lakers dating to April 12, 2007. Blake Griffin scored 15 points before fouling out and Caron Butler had 14 for the Clippers, who pulled away steadily in the second half.

Just don't try to tell the Clippers that they're the new kings of L.A.

"I think it's the second game of the year, and you've got two teams here that just got together," Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said. "It's too early to tell anything yet, other than we have to keep getting better."

While the Clippers celebrated, the pro-Lakers crowd reacted to another loss with angry shouts piercing the silence, much of it profane criticism of Brown and his new Princeton-based offense.

Bryant attempted to put the Lakers on his shoulders in the second half, scoring 26 points out of sets that resembled the Lakers' old offenses, but the Clippers stayed comfortably ahead with big second halves from Paul and Griffin.

"We're getting better as a team," Griffin said. "It's a great win for us, because they're a great team and they're in our division. I think the biggest difference in these games now ... is when we used to run out that tunnel for the starting lineups, nobody used to boo us. They didn't really care. And now they throw heat a little bit. So I think that says a lot about where we're at."

Nash's absence was only one reason Paul had the same number of assists as the Lakers, with Nash replacement Steve Blake managing just two assists in 38 minutes before fouling out in the final minute.

The Clippers pulled away in the third quarter, making an 18-5 run with nine points from Griffin to take an 82-67 lead into the fourth quarter. The Lakers trimmed it to 91-83 with 5 minutes to play, but Crawford and Matt Barnes kept the Clippers ahead with big buckets.

"The key was that we weathered the storm," Paul said. "We had a lead going into the fourth, and then Kobe started being Kobe. I've played against the Lakers enough times to see him get like that and have them come back and win. But we got some timely shots from our bench, and they stepped up for us."

Bryant became the Lakers' career steals leader with his 1,725th in the third quarter, passing Magic Johnson. But the Lakers' defense was largely ineffective against Paul, and the Clippers forced 20 Lakers turnovers.

While the Lakers seem headed for growing pains this autumn as they integrate their two new stars into the lineup, the Clippers appear ready to make a run at their rivals' supremacy in the next several months.

The Clippers are frequently saddled with rough November schedules that make it tough to get off to a fast start, but everything has changed this year. They'll only leave Los Angeles for one game before Nov. 19, playing seven of their first eight at Staples Center.

Meanwhile, the Lakers have caught few breaks since training camp opened with Howard still recovering from offseason back surgery. Nash's absence is just the latest obstacle after he was hurt in the first half of the Lakers' loss at Portland on Wednesday night in a collision with rookie Damian Lillard.

Just three games into his three-year contract with Los Angeles, the two-time MVP had to sit out. Brown doesn't know whether Nash will play in Sunday's home game against Detroit.

NOTES: Bryant moved past Johnson into 15th place on the NBA's career steals list. Isiah Thomas is 14th with 1,861. ... Clippers C DeAndre Jordan threw down a stunning putback dunk in the third quarter, barely throwing down a rebound before falling onto his back. Jordan scored just four points. ... Barry Diller, Diane Von Furstenberg and directors Kevin Smith, James L. Brooks and Adam McKay attended the game.

Notebook: Clippers 105, Lakers 95

Dan Arritt, for NBA.com
Posted Sat Nov 03, 2012 2:19 AM - Updated Sat Nov 03, 2012 2:19 AM

THE FACTS: A balanced offense, a deep bench and a burning desire to become the best team in Los Angeles were more than enough to carry the Clippers to a 105-95 victory Friday night at STAPLES Center, dropping the Lakers to 0-3 for the first time since 1978.

QUOTABLE: "We're hitting the panic button now." --Lakers guard Kobe Bryant

THE STAT: The Lakers played without eight-time All-Star point guard Steve Nash, who sat out with an inflamed lower leg. His absence showed in the lack of ball distribution. The Lakers managed just 15 assists on 34 field goals and committed 20 turnovers. No player on the Lakers had more than three assists. The Clippers, meanwhile, had 24 assists on 38 baskets, led by Chris Paul with 15.

TURNING POINT: Leading by four points with four minutes left in the third quarter, the Clippers ended the quarter on a 15-3 run. Clippers center DeAndre Jordan started the push with a one-handed dunk off a missed 3-pointer by Willie Green. The final dagger was a fast-break layup by Blake Griffin off a missed shot by Metta World Peace with 30 seconds left in the quarter, extending the lead to 82-66. Griffin had nine points, four rebounds and two steals in the deciding quarter.

HOT: Nobody can fault Bryant for his team's winless start. Bryant scored 40 points on 14-for-23 shooting, the 113th 40-point game of his 17-year career. Through the first three games, he's 35-for-57 and averaging just over 30 points.

NOT: Lakers center Dwight Howard was ho-hum in his second game at STAPLES Center. He picked up two fouls in the first 3 ½ minutes, then went to the bench again after getting whistled for his third with 7:17 left in the second quarter. Howard played just 10 minutes in the first half and finished with 13 points on 4-for-7 shooting, grabbed eight rebounds and blocked five shots in 31 minutes. He was also 5-for-10 from the free-throw line, leaving him 8-for-24 in two games at STAPLES Center.

GOOD MOVE: With a 15-point lead to start the fourth quarter, Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro was able to keep his reserves on the floor for the first seven minutes of the quarter. Lamar Odom, Ryan Hollins, Matt Barnes, Jamal Crawford and Eric Bledsoe of the Clippers went against Bryant, Howard, World Peace, Darius Morris and Antawn Jamison, and the Lakers were only able to shave seven points off the lead before Paul and Griffin checked back in for the final five minutes.

BAD MOVE: Only three games into the season and Lakers coach Mike Brown was forced to play Bryant for all but five minutes of the game. Bryant came up big, again, but the 34-year-old will likely have trouble maintaining this pace for much longer.

QUOTABLE II: "We need a win, obviously. I'm not trying to fool anyone. That's why Kobe played the minutes that he did, which is too many." --Lakers coach Mike Brown

NOTABLE: The Clippers ended a nine-game losing streak as the visiting team in this series. ... Bryant had two steals to pass Magic Johnson as the all-time career franchise leader. He also moved into 15th on the all-time NBA list. ... The Clippers had 20 second-chance points, compared to seven for the Lakers, and scored 25 points off their 20 turnovers, compared to 13 points off 12 turnovers for the Lakers.

UP NEXT: For the Lakers, Sunday vs. Detroit, Wednesday @ Utah, Friday vs. Golden State. For the Clippers, Saturday vs. Golden State, Monday vs. Cleveland, Wednesday vs. San Antonio.

• Clippers: Billups, Hill, Thompkins
• Lakers: Johnson-Odom, Nash

• Clippers: --
• Lakers: Brown

• Lead Changes: 5
• Times Tied: 0

• Arena: Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
• Officials: #24 Mike Callahan, #47 Bennie Adams, #34 Kevin Cutler
• Attendance: 18997
• Duration: 2:34