Lakers defeat Clippers

On Tuesday night, the Lakers, who are the defending Western Conference champion, started their season with a 96-76 victory against Portland. On Wednesday night, during the season opener of the Clippers, the Lakers defeated the Clippers by a score of 117-79. During this match, the Lakers balanced scoring and got deep. They had a shooting of 51 percent while they restricted the Clippers to 38 percent shooting.

Kobe Bryant contributed 16 points and 8 rebounds while Andrew Bynum managed 12 points and 9 rebounds. Derek Fisher managed to score 15 points. The other scorers for Lakers were Trevor Ariza with 11 points and 6 rebounds, Jordan Farmar with 15 points and Pau Gasol with 13 points. Chris Mims who scored 10 points managed most of them in mop-up time.

The Clippers side which had a new look in this match did not have sufficient expertise to combat the versatility and aptitude of the Lakers. Baron Davis contributed 11 points and 7 assists. Al Thornton managed 16 points and Tim Thomas and Cuttino Mobley each finished with 11 points. During the offseason, the Clippers lost Corey Maggette and longtime mainstay Elton Brand. This team has nine newcomers who have been members of other teams in the previous season.

Mike Dunleavy, the coach of the Clippers, commented prior to the game that the Lakers are probably the best team in the league. He said “Defensively they should be one of the top three teams and then they’ve got Kobe Bryant at the end of the game to cancel all bets.”