Clippers beat Lakers, finally give LA fans a rivalry

By sheer numbers, Saturday night has the fewest TV viewers. Kids do sleepovers, singles do bars and clubs, couples do date night.

That’s too bad, because that means a whole bunch of people missed an awesome basketball game.

The Clippers and Lakers finally battled for something other than column inches Saturday. And when it was over, Los Angeles had what it has been lacking for almost 30 years – a basketball rivalry, thanks to a 102-94 win by the Clippers.

For a hoophead, the game had everything – a heaping helpful of hype, star power, two good teams playing for first place. And thanks to Chris Paul, two teams that share an arena, city and fan base now have a reason for us to blow off date night and watch.

From Jeff Miller of the Orange County Register: “Rooting for the Lakers is like rooting for the Yankees or Nike or ESPN. It’s rooting for the inevitable. Eventually, your devotion will be rewarded because the Lakers will win. And seriously, how much fun is that? Now, the Clippers, they come with no guarantees, making them decidedly more vulnerable and infinitely more embraceable. They’ve been flea-infested underdogs chasing their tails for decades. The Clippers never have won anything other than the draft lottery, and we all know how well they’ve handled that morsel of success. How could a team that never wins finally winning be a bad thing? So Saturday, the Clippers did win. They rose up and beat the mighty Lakers, despite another 42-point night from Bryant. They took the Lakers’ best second-half shot and still stood. Historically speaking, this was David dropping Goliath.”

It was fitting that Paul (33 points, 6 assists) was the protagonist, because he could have been wearing Forum Blue and Gold instead of red, white and blue. Had he ended up on the Lakers, basketball in LA would have remained business as usual.

But aside from Paul’s considerable talent, his competitive drive is matched by very few players, one of whom is Kobe Bryant. Conspiracy theory alert: Having them as rivals rather than teammates is better for both teams, the city and the NBA.

Paul’s talent allowed the Clippers to grab an early lead; his will prevented them from surrendering it as they have in so many past meetings with the Lakers. They withstood another 42-point outburst from Bryant and a steady stream of chippy play that figures to be a staple of future games between the residents of Staples Center.

From Elliot Teaford of the Los Angeles Daily News: “The Lakers had their moments but never led in the first half and appeared preoccupied with the officiating. Brown and Matt Barnes drew technical fouls in the first and second quarters and several others yelled at the referees. Brown lost his composure after Griffin shoved rookie Darius Morris to the court after Morris dunked after the whistle. Brown had to be restrained by his assistants from charging onto the floor. Josh McRoberts also said something to Griffin. “That play was dangerous,” Brown said. “You don’t have the right to shove anybody in the air. I lost my cool and I apologized to my team at halftime. I gave (the Clippers) an extra point. It won’t happen again.” The Lakers haven’t been happy with Griffin during their past meetings. They believe he celebrates a little too excitedly when he dunks and climbs on their backs after the whistle too frequently and with too much gusto. Griffin offered no postgame apologies. “All last year, if I ever kept going after the whistle (stuff happened),” Griffin said when asked about the shove on Morris. “I got told early in the season that was going to happen. It’s an unwritten rule. If you’re going after the whistle, be prepared.” In the third quarter, after McRoberts dived to secure a loose ball, a group of Clippers piled on top of him and a jump ball was called. Morris earned a technical for shoving a couple of Clippers off his teammate.”

Late in the third quarter, Paul provided both the physical and mental toughness needed by the Clippers that Bryant gives to the Lakers. With Bryant going for 21 points in the period – and swaying the sellout crowd’s rooting interest in the process – Paul took a really hard two-handed foul on him. He closed the quarter with a layup, then scored eight quick points in the fourth quarter to rebuild the lead to double digits before sitting down with a hamstring injury.

The teams are a half-game apart atop the Pacific Division and play again Jan. 25. That’s a Wednesday, so you won’t have to blow off date night.

Before then, however, both teams have a date this week with the defending champion Dallas Mavericks, who are finally making some noise and doing it with defense.

One night after holding Milwaukee to 76 points, the Dallas Mavericks swarmed Sacramento in a 99-60 home victory that set broke sorts of ancient team records set in cities that don’t host NBA teams anymore.

From Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: “The 23 points were the fewest the Mavs have ever permitted in any half. The previous low was 24 points the Vancouver Grizzlies – they now play in Memphis – scored in the first half of a March 13, 1999 game against Dallas. Also, the 23 points were the fewest the Kings have scored in any half. The previous low was 25 points, which they scored against Boston on Feb. 26, 1957, when they were the Rochester Royals. Meanwhile, the 60 points were the fewest the Mavs have ever allowed in a game.”

Here’s a few more tidbits: With about four minutes left in the first half, the Kings were 6-of-40 from the field. Dallas doubled Sacramento’s score for all but 5:24 of the first half and the first 4:12 of the second half. And in the four quarters from halftime Friday to halftime Saturday, the Mavs allowed 54 points.

Who needs Tyson Chandler?

Dallas also got back Jason Kidd, who had missed the last four games – all wins – with a lower back injury. With 3:47 left in the first quarter, Kidd had a driving layup for his first two-point basket of the season.

The Mavs have won eight of 10 since an 0-3 start. They open a four-game road trip Monday vs. the Lakers, the first meeting between the teams since Dallas ended LA’s “three-peat” dreams with a convincing sweep in last year’s playoffs. It’s also a return to La-La Land for Lamar Odom, who was talked out of walking away from the game by his somewhat famous wife.

From ESPN.com’s Marc Stein: “Left reeling by the July murder of his 24-year-old cousin and a fatal car accident days later that killed a teen pedestrian after the car he was riding in as a passenger collided with a motorcycle, Odom told ESPN.com that he had to be convinced by wife Khloe Kardashian to scrap his plans for a hiatus. “Real close,” Odom said when asked Saturday how close he came to asking the Lakers for a season-long sabbatical. “My wife talked me out of it.”

The Mavs play the Clippers on Wednesday.

Elsewhere …

• The Knicks were without Carmelo Anthony for their visit to Oklahoma City, and the Thunder ran them out of the gym, opening a 70-47 halftime lead. The Knicks looked like an “excuses” team, hanging their heads and complaining to officials. “Almost always there’s one or two rookies on the floor and just without training camp it’s excuse, excuse and I don’t want to do that,” said coach Mike D’Antoni, who immediately went on to lament the unavailability of Anthony and Baron Davis, who isn’t expected back until the Super Bowl. The Thunder, meanwhile, have won six in a row. Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden haven’t played in the fourth quarter of their last three home games.
• The Bulls absolutely smothered the Raptors, 77-64. Chicago’s four best defensive games this season look like Tiger Woods at Firestone: 64-64-64-68. The home game completed a stretch of nine games in 12 days for the Bulls, who went a tidy 8-1 and have an easy stretch of schedule between now and their showdown in Miami on Jan. 29.
• The Pacers beat the Celtics for the second time in nine days. Boston has lost four straight games and is averaging 80.3 points during the slide. Here’s Indiana forward Danny Granger on Boston’s aging stars: “One thing you can’t battle, you can’t fight, is age. They all are Hall-of-Famers, but you get to a point where age catches up with you and it’s hard to compete at the level you once competed at. I don’t know if they’re there yet.” Yowsah. The Celts host the youthful Thunder on Monday.
• The Sixers completed a home-and-home sweep of the Wizards with a 103-90 road win that actually reduced their league-leading point differential to 15.2. Philadelphia plays 10 of its next 11 games at home, where it is 5-0.
• The Hawks, who stifled Miami with a zone defense, went to it again and climbed out of an 18-point hole to beat the Timberwolves. Rookie Ivan Johnson sank the tiebreaking free throws after getting the whistle on a 50-50 block-charge call against All-Star Kevin Love, who tweeted afterward, “Don’t even know what to say. Eventually we will get respect in this league. It will happen.”
• Remember when Portland won at Oklahoma City to take over the best record in the Western Conference? The Trail Blazers (7-5) are now fourth in the Northwest Division after losing in overtime at Houston. Kyle Lowry is averaging 26.7 points, 7.7 rebounds and 7.0 assists in his last three games.
• The Bobcats had lost six in a row, so Paul Silas benched leading rebounder Boris Diaw and went small, giving Kemba Walker his first start alongside D.J. Augustin and sliding Gerald Henderson to small forward. Walker responded with 23 points in a home win over Golden State, which has some small guards in Monta Ellis and Nate Robinson.