Basketball in Los Angeles is always relevant but never before has it been so intriguing for two such opposite reasons. The Clippers��� title as most entertaining team a year ago now comes with the teeth of being a
legitimate title contender. The Lakers are the latest big-budget L.A. fop since ���John Carter��� despite having
three Hall of Famers on the roster. Neither development was easy to see coming, not with how well the
Clippers have turned an odd ofseason free-agency class of Matt Barnes, Jamal Crawford and Lamar Odom
into a punishing body blow that follows the initial punch sent by Blake and CP3. Or, that the Lakers would
fre Mike Brown, THEN HIRE Mike D���Antoni WHILE HAVING the talent of Pau Gasol, Dwight Howard, Kobe
Bryant and Steve Nash and STILL HOLDING the Western Conference���s sixth-worst record halfway through.
Yes, the surprise is in the extremes with which each team has played this season, expressed perfectly in the
fact that entering New Year���s Day the Clippers had won more games in a row (17) than the Lakers had total.
GRIFFIN: ROB HAMMER
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Lakers Fall, Clippers Rise
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