Late Wednesday night, with the Lakers clinging to a two-point lead over the Clippers, Kobe Bryant knocked down a fadeaway jumper over Randy Foye to give the Lakers a 110-106 lead with 24 seconds left. On the next possession, Chris Paul missed a 3-point attempt, Blake Griffin was called for a loose-ball foul while fighting for the rebound and Pau Gasol made one of his two free throws with 18 seconds left.
Final score: Lakers 113, Clippers 108.
Kobe Bryant and the Lakers snapped the Clippers' longest winning streak (six games) since 1992, winning the Battle for Los Angeles on the Clippers' blue and red court. Chalk it up as another year of the Lakers owning both Los Angeles and the Clippers. Right?
Well. Sort of.
Sure, the Lakers came out on top in the season's three-game series, taking the last two games by a combined 10 points after the Clippers won the first one by eight. And, yes, the Lakers now lead the Clippers by 21/2 games for the Pacific Division lead and the No. 3 playoff seed with only one dozen regular season games remaining.
But this intra-city/arena matchup has burgeoned into an actual rivalry.
This change began when the Clippers swooped in and executed a trade for Chris Paul days after NBA commissioner David Stern blocked the three-team trade that would have made Paul and Bryant teammates. To some degree, this was the most meaningful moment the Clippers ever had against the Lakers, by which I mean the Clippers went from having to face Paul as the heir apparent to Kobe's throne to having Paul lead them on a coup d'état to usurp Los Angeles from the Lakers.
Granted, the Clippers haven't hauled in an overthrow of Los Angeles just yet. The Lakers are still the better, more experienced team. But the Clippers have closed the gap and that's a testament to Paul's influence more than it is an indictment of the Lakers failing to improve.
Paul has led the Clippers to their best 54-game start (32-22) since the team moved to Los Angeles, and if that wasn't impressive enough, he's accomplished this under less-than-ideal circumstances. It's a shortened, condensed season. The Clippers' roster was infused with nine new players, making it incredibly difficult to establish an identity given the lack of practice time and the fact that there wasn't a training camp. An Achilles' tendon injury knocked Chauncey Billups out for the season. The Clippers have one of the worst coaches in the league; and, much to the chagrin of "Lob City," alley-oops are only worth two points.
A wide-lens view like that makes you wonder if Chris Paul doesn't put the "valuable" in Most Valuable Player more than any other player. And, really, is there any debate about who the best point guard in the league is? I say no.
It makes sense why Kobe Bryant was incensed when the dream of teaming up with Paul was nixed by Stern, particularly when you consider what Bryant has to say about Paul.
"The game just gets easier with Chris Paul. He's a dog. He's going to fight to win, and not too many teams can deal with him," Bryant said, comparing himself and Paul. "Chris Paul is really the only other guy in the league, other than Derrick Rose, who also has that competitive edge."
So I don't imagine an aging Kobe Bryant rests well knowing Paul plays (literally) in the same building as him for the other team in Los Angeles. Because, although Kobe is king and he has all the rings and the Lakers won the Battle of L.A. (once again), it does feel like Paul and the Clippers are on their way to an overthrow.
Chad Pemberton is a Marshall University graduate who follows the NBA and is writing about it for The Herald-Dispatch. Email him at pemberton@herald-dispatch.com.
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