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For all the talk about whether the two dunks Blake Griffin dropped on Pau Gasol in Wednesday's win for the Lakers over the LAC, the only play that was actually dirty (as opposed to simply being an offensive foul) came in the third when he pushed an airborne Gasol in the back as Pau tried to finish in transition.

After further review, the NBA agreed, upgrading what had simply been a personal foul to a flagrant-1.

It was the proper decision, for sure. That sort of thing shouldn't be tolerated.

Lakers coach Mike Brown doesn't have a DeLorean to take him back to Wednesday evening so he can save Pau Gasol from joining Timofey Mozgov and Kendrick Perkins as Blake Griffin's most battered dunk victims, but that doesn't mean he can't try to add a postscript to the plays by getting the league to admit the dunks should have been disallowed.

Brown told reporters at shootaround Friday in preparation for L.A.'s game against the Houston Rockets that the Lakers have reached out to the league seeking clarification as to why both of Griffin's dunks on Gasol -- a putback in the first quarter and the poster-worthy jam in the third -- weren't called as fouls against Griffin.

"I’m waiting to see an interpretation on the call because it’s a heck of a play [but] I thought if you led with your forearm, I thought that’s an offensive foul," Brown said. "But maybe I don’t know the rules that well. It will be interesting to make sure that I have an explanation or understanding of what the rules are."

Brown said Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak has reached out to the league office on behalf of the team, searching for answers.

Gasol took umbrage with Griffin's Mozgov-like dunk after the game Wednesday.

"You don't really see what happened," Gasol said. "It was quick, a hit-and-run kind of thing, right? The ball went in, I was on my ass, I woke up, I stood up and told the referee I had a f---ing forearm on my face, on my throat, and that's something that needs to be looked at."

Brown said Griffin's first-quarter dunk on Gasol also should have been an infraction.

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Go ahead and sing.

Wednesday's win over the Clippers was significant not simply for being a quality effort against a strong opponent, though it was, but for what it did to the standings. The Lakers now own the season series and accompanying tiebreaker over the Clippers, giving them what amounts to a three game lead in the Pacific Division with only 11 games remaining.

Meanwhile, one rung up on the playoff ladder, the Lakers are 4.5 games behind San Antonio for the Western Conference's second seed. Put it all together, and barring the unusual and unexpected, the Lakers likely enter the postseason exactly where they are now, as the third seed.

The team should keep its collective eye on the games in front of them, since the schedule still contains three games against San Antonio, and dates with Denver, Dallas, and Oklahoma City. The goal is to enter the postseason playing at as high a level as possible, and in that regard the Lakers still have plenty of i's to dot and t's to cross. They need to go one day at a time. (Go ahead and sing.) The rest of us can look ahead at potential playoff opponents. The bottom half of the W.C. is tightly packed, meaning any of five teams have a reasonable shot of finishing sixth.

Who should the Lakers want? Is there a nightmare opponent out there? Here are the squads they're most likely to face, starting from the bottom, up... though the order is likely to change almost daily until the end of the regular season.

DENVER NUGGETS

Current Position: 29-25 (8th, 1.5 games behind sixth seed)

Matchup: The problem with Denver hasn't been talent, but health. Basically everyone on their roster has missed games, and in the case of key talent like Danilo Gallinari, a significant amount of them. But the tide might turn by playoff time. Wilson Chandler, who returned from China only to hurt his groin, will soon be back in the lineup. Gallinari (thumb) is practicing again, too. Rudy Fernandez, despite back surgery, could return for the playoffs. Keep in mind, the Nuggets started 14-5, including a win over L.A., and when whole are a dangerous bunch. They have good point guards in Ty Lawson and Andre Miller, a wing who can defend Kobe Bryant (Arron Afflalo), and a ton of depth. Most playoff rotations get shorter, but the Nuggets can still come in waves.

Fear Factor (scale of 1-10, keeping in mind the Lakers have shown an ability to lose to anyone, so all opponents deserve respect): 5 if injuries persist, 6.5 if healthy. Even if Denver gets their pieces back, how well will they fit with so little time together?

HOUSTON ROCKETS

Current Position: 29-25 (7th, 1.5 behind sixth seed)

Matchup: Kyle Lowry is back on the practice floor, and could return by the postseason. Obviously that changes the dynamic considerably for the Rockets, given how well Lowry has performed this season. Kevin Martin has also been banged up, but should be on the floor by the postseason. Houston beat the Lakers on March 20th without either one of those guys, so they'd have to be taken seriously. The Rockets don't excel in any one area, but are average to above average in a wide range of key statistical categories, and don't have a lot of clear soft points ripe for exploitation. Luis Scola is still a solid player, Chandler Parsons has earned his way into the starting lineup, and with Marcus Camby and Sam Dalembert, there's at least a little size.

Fear Factor: 5. Houston will force 48 minutes of solid play every game, but ultimately don't have enough top end players to beat the Lakers in a series.

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Once again, the Lakers and Clippers put on a show, and for the second time in three tries the Lakers came out on top, winning 113-108 Wednesday night at Staples Center. With the victory, the Lakers take the season series, and put themselves in very strong position to take the Pacific Division and the third seed in the Western Conference.

A pair of Blake Griffin dunks will dominate the highlights, but there was a lot more to cover, starting with a huge night from Andrew Bynum. 36 points, most of them coming at the expense of DeAndre Jordan, and 31 from that Kobe guy. We hit on all that, and insert a little vintage Bill Bixby for good measure on Wednesday's edition (Thursday morning, technically) of Lakers Late Night.



Click below for a boatload of postgame video, from Kobe Bryant, Mike Brown, Pau Gasol, Ramon Sessions, and more...

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There's a lot on the line Wednesday when the Lakers "visit" the Clippers (7:30, ESPN), starting with positioning in the Pacific Division. The Lakers will wake up Thursday in first place no matter the result-- they're 1.5 games up heading in -- but a victory for the LAC would pull them even with the Lakers in the loss column, and more importantly the winner takes the season series 2-1, earning what could be a very useful tiebreaker.

Andrew Bynum, absent from Tuesday's win over New Jersey, will obviously play a huge role in the outcome. Defensively, he provides a major deterrent/shot altering deterrant in the lane for Chris Paul, a guy who (for those new to the game) makes his way to the paint with regularity. At the other end, not only is Bynum a key weapon for the Lakers as a source of points in the post and a means of drawing double teams, but his presence guarantees Blake Griffin has to play defense, matched up against Pau Gasol.

Unburdened from responsibility on his side of the floor, Griffin is far freer to load up on highlight dunks and soaring rebounds.

The Lakers are riding what might be the most unsatisfying three game win streak in sports history. With only 12 games left before the playoffs, they don't have a lot of time to coalesce, and their apparent allergy to comfortable leads obviously won't play well in the postseason. The LAC, meanwhile, have quietly posted a six game win streak, their longest as a franchise since March of '92 (an NBA record for largest gap between five win streaks), including a thumping of Dallas Monday night. Before, though, they'd lost 12 of 19, and still have some work to do convincing observers they're truly on track.

Add in a quickly developing, very chippy rivalry and, to paraphrase Rasheed Wallace, both teams have good reason to play hard.

To get a better feel for Wednesday's battle royale, we sat down with Kevin Arnovitz and Jordan Heimer, hosts of ESPNLA's The Clipper Podcast (among other things) for an audio preview. Click here to listen. To serve the more literary crowd, Arnovitz was nice enough to answer a few questions...

1. Maybe 10 days ago, we were all speculating about Vinny Del Negro's job security. Now the Clips have won six straight. What has changed?

"The Clippers had a relatively easy homestand against of slew of really, really bad road teams. But in the process, they've started to figure out some stuff defensively. On top of that, they've gotten some otherworldly shooting performances from all over the roster. The average NBA team puts up an effective field goal percentage of 48.6 percent. The Clippers over their six-game winning streak? 54, 55, 54, 57, 61, 54."

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It's the rubber match for Pacific Division supremacy, and perhaps even ownership of Los Angeles from San Pedro to the San Fernando Valley! The Lakers and Clippers should be primed for serious battle, between the playoff seeding at stake, the local bragging rights, and quite frankly, because they don't care much for each other. To preview this contest, we called upon Kevin Arnovitz and Jordan Heimer, host of ESPNLA.com's "The Clipper podcast." You can hear the show by clicking on the module, and a breakdown of talking points is below.





- (1:50): We examine my theory about how the Lakers only play consistently well against teams they collectively hate (the Clippers, Mavericks and Celtics) or Kobe hates (the Suns, #NeverForget).

- (3:45): Blake Griffin's annoying on-court behavior (primarily flopping, although some don't dig the post-dunk preening) is compared to Andrew Bynum's troubling behavior on and away from the hardwood.

- (11:00): Arnovitz and Heimer break down how the Clippers' once-sinking fortunes suddenly turned. In particular, the defense has suddenly improved.

- (17:50): This will be the Lakers' first game against the Clippers with Ramon Sessions in the fold. How will he fare defending Chris Paul? (And if he struggles, who picks up the slack in his place?) Can Sessions place pressure on a team that sometimes struggles in pick-and-roll coverage?

- (26:00): How do Arnovitz and Heimer expect Kobe Bryant to be defended?

- (27:20): Predictions!

- (30:00): The Clippers got their act together almost immediately upon the reinstatement of Clipper Darrell. Pure coincidence or testament to the power of a super-fan who now "understands his role?" And yes, I do find the notion of a meeting to spell out Clipper Darrell's "role" hysterically funny.

Since signing with the Lakers he’s changed his jersey number his name, but Metta World Peace hasn’t been able to change the fact that he’s declining as a player.

After an impressive performance in the Lakers’ 96-91 win over the Clippers on Wednesday, World Peace at least wanted to change the narrative of why his play has been slipping.

“The defense, I got to bring it back,” World Peace said after practice Thursday, a day after putting up three points, seven assists, five rebounds, two steals and a block while playing a season-high 38 minutes. “I got bored with defense because it was so easy for me to stop people over the years. I got real bored with it. When you’re playing against guys and you’re stopping guys every single time, what else are you going to do [but get bored]? It caught up to me, but this year I’m doing better. This year I’m almost back to where I want to be.”

As wild as his premise might sound (“bored” could explain why he changed his name from Ron Artest, however), Kobe Bryant actually agreed with World Peace’s logic.

“I can relate to that,” Bryant said. “That’s happened to me before as well. That’s human nature sometimes. You have to have [and] you have to find challenges that kind of get you going and keep your energy.

“It’s about finding your edge. You have to find your edge. It’s not something that’s farfetched. He was a great defensive player. Things sometimes become too easy. Offensively, things for me get really, really easy sometimes and the game just feels boring. But you have to find that edge, you have to find something that’s going to push you.”

What pushed World Peace against the Clippers was the chance to push tough guys Reggie Evans and Blake Griffin around a little bit.

“Once the guys [on the Clippers] started talking to me, I had to come out of my shell a little bit,” World Peace told 710 ESPN’s “Mason & Ireland Show” on Thursday. “So, they kind of woke me up.”

The wake-up call was appreciated by World Peace’s teammates.

“I think [Wednesday] night it was definitely a positive,” said Pau Gasol. “I don’t think you might need that necessarily every night, but his aggression and aggressiveness and level of energy last night really made an impact and that’s something that we look forward to from Ron. Because, he might not be having a great shooting night, but if he has a couple steals, gets into a couple guys’ faces, puts his body on people, knocks somebody around a little bit here and there, plays physical … He’s as physical as it gets at the small forward position. You don’t get a much stronger guy than him, so you got to use his body to be a factor.”

World Peace’s body is finally back in top form after coming into training camp admittedly out of shape. Coach Mike Brown called him “heavy” and reduced World Peace’s minutes from 29.4 per game as the starting small forward last season to 20.9 this year in a reserve role. Brown even sat World Peace out the entire game against Cleveland less than two weeks ago, surprising considering World Peace played in all 82 of the Lakers’ games a year ago.

“I just think I’m getting in shape,” World Peace told 710 ESPN. “I planned on playing really hard this season, but I couldn’t do that early on because I was out of shape and then when I got in shape, I wasn’t getting no minutes so I wasn’t able to show the things that I was able to do.”

He insists that his career low averages of 5.3 points, 2.6 rebounds, 0.7 assists and 0.2 blocks on just 33.9 percent shooting has more to do with his minutes being cut and his body rounding into shape than it does with his not being fully engaged.

“It really hasn’t changed,” World Peace said. “I’ve just been out on the floor. On the bench, I was really enthusiastic on the bench. Bench players don’t get credit for clapping. I had a lot of energy on the bench.”

After the Clippers game, Bryant said he wants to see more of the old, aggressive Ron Artest and less of the passive World Peace.

“Ron was his feisty self on the perimeter,” Bryant said Thursday. “He just needs to be who he is. We brought him in there for him being himself, so he just has to be himself.”

World Peace wants people to know the definition of who he is doesn’t include any malicious intent.

“On the court, I’m definitely not a mean person. I’m still the same person. I play extremely hard,” he told 710 ESPN. “You won’t be seeing that much. I can play basketball with just as much energy without talking smack and still being energized and having fun with the fans.”

Gasol put it thusly: “He’s World Peace now. He can’t be too aggressive or too violent out there. He’s preaching peace.”

Still, whatever player wore No. 15 for the Lakers last night-- the docile Metta World Peace, the rambunctious Ron Artest, or some combination of the two -- was sprung to life by the Clippers. And Clippers-Lakers games are sure to be just as lively for every player involved moving forward.

“I love it,” World Peace said. “It’s a L.A. rival. It’s here. I’m happy the Clippers are doing well. I’m happy we got a chance to [be like] New York that has the subway series with the Yankees and the Mets. I’m happy to be a part of this Clippers and Lakers rivalry. I hope we meet each other in the playoffs. That would be great for the city.”

Dave McMenamin covers the Lakers for ESPNLosAngeles.com. Follow him on Twitter.

The Lakers got themselves back in the win column Wednesday night in a very important game, beating the Clippers 96-91 at Staples. Behold the Lakers Late Night replay below. Among the topics of conversation:

• The very tangible rivalry between the Clippers and Lakers, and why the NBA owes this city a playoff run between the two squads.
• A big game for Pau Gasol. He talked the talk, and Wednesday he walked the walk.
• Huge contributions from Metta World Peace and Andrew Goudelock.

Check below the jump for postgame video from Gasol, Mike Brown, Goudelock, Josh McRoberts, and Kobe Bryant.

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Man alive, would this be a good playoff series. I mean, gooooooooooooooood.

Here are five takeaways from the best game we've seen the Lakers play since probably the 17-1 stretch after the 2011 All-Star break.

1) Pau Gasol walked the walk after talking it.

El Spaniard entered this contest under a seriously high-powered microscope, having recently made perfectly clear on any occasion possible the displeasure with his role. In his eyes, it involved being parked on the elbow to either facilitate the offense or pop long jumpers, and little more. Gasol is of the opinion the team -- and he -- would be better served with him getting more post touches and more scoring opportunities in general.

His case was demonstrated almost immediately with a layup 49 seconds after the ball was jumped. Gasol maintained this "thirst to score," as Kobe Bryant would put it, throughout the entire game. Nine points on 4-5 shooting during the first quarter, none from further than 14 feet out. By the first half's end, he had 17 points on just nine shots. He also seemed hyper-conscious of who was defending him and exploiting the matchup. Reggie Evans may be a rebounding machine, but as a man-defender, he's pretty average. Gasol forced the issue against Evans, the highlight coming on a baseline drive precluded by a dizzying array of pump fakes and spins. He also called for clear-outs while faced up against the power forward behind the free throw line.

23 points were accumulated in all, plus 10 rebounds, four assists and a steal tossed in for good measure. There was also an outstanding defensive stand against Griffin, where he stayed in front of the All-Star during a series of twists and spins, then blocked the scoop shot.

After the final horn, Pau even found his way into a confrontation with Chris Paul, as competitive a player as the NBA offers.

It'll be interesting to see how Gasol and the Lakers plot to build off this explosion, but during his postgame interviews, the satisfaction in this performance was evident.

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After reading what to watch for during Wednesday's Lakers-Clippers contest, watch us, along with Dave McMenamin, break down the central differences between the teams.

Mike Brown can insist he's not worried about the Clippers. Matt Barnes and Blake Griffin can claim there's no bad blood between these teams (if not necessarily each other). And people can debate whether the Lakers and Clippers have entered a "rivalry." Some will say the Clippers need to win more games (or banners) to make this a "rivalry." Others won't be able to agree on what constitutes a "rivalry" to begin with.

But this much can't be disputed. There are stakes riding on this game.

The winner of the Pacific Division is probably guaranteed at least one round of home-court advantage in the playoffs. The runner-up could end up fighting just to make the postseason in a loaded Western Conference. If the Lakers can't snap a three-game losing streak with a win against their Staples Center roommates, they've lost any shot at forcing a tiebreaker. Winning the division would require leapfrogging the Clips, which means making up the ground of four losses in the standings. With only 47 games remaining afterward, the mission's not impossible, but it won't be easy.

Here are four items to watch once the ball is jumped:

1. Bench production

The upside of Metta World Peace's 11 points against Indiana on Sunday? It provided hope of a corner potentially turned, or at the very least, evidence of a concerted effort to park him in the lane that essentially makes or breaks his effectiveness. The downside? It was a stark reminder of how rare such an outburst is for a Lakers reserve. Before this night, the last Lakers reserve to hit double figures was Steve Blake on Jan. 8 against the Grizzlies.

The second unit's struggles to chip in points is an issue during any game, but could be spotlighted in particularly painful fashion against the Clippers. In an extreme example, you have Mo Williams, whose 14.5 points off the bench bests the combined averages of MWP (5.5), Josh McRoberts (3.7) and Darius Morris (3.6), the top three scorers among healthy reserves. There's even a reminder in the form of second-leading bench scorer Randy Foye, whose 7.9 points is hardly eye-opening ... except on the Lakers, where he'd be the clubhouse leader among subs. And despite Williams' presence, the Clippers remain just the 28th-ranked team for bench scoring and 29th for efficiency ... and still beat the Lakers on both counts.

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In the time I've spent covering the NBA, it was the most polite four-plus minutes of questioning officials I've ever heard. (Perhaps because so much of that time was spent covering Phil Jackson) Nonetheless, Mike Brown made it very, very clear Sunday afternoon in El Segundo that, upon further review, he still thinks the shove Blake Griffin delivered to Darius Morris in the first quarter of Saturday's loss to the Clippers was a dangerous play, one worthy of a call that never came.

With that in mind, he'll be asking the league to review the tape.

While I got the feeling Brown probably wanted to tee off, he didn't, and once again he expressed regret at costing his team a point thanks to the T he earned after going ballistic on the bench. If Chuck Person didn't have the size of a left tackle, who knows where Brown would have ended up? (Other than, as he said with a smile this afternoon, "the shower.")

Apologies aside, I'm sure Brown's players appreciated the show of support, despite his repeated pleas to stay off the refs. They'd rather he stick up for his guys than let a play like Griffin's slide without reaction. From Kobe Bryant on down, the Lakers have been highly complimentary of Brown, expressing a desire to win for him. His reaction to Griffin's push is a good example why.

It's hard to learn too many lessons from Saturday's 102-94 loss to the Clippers in the first installment of this year's city rivalry games, at least in terms what it means about each team's long term future in the Pacific Division. But if Saturday was any indication, Los Angeles basketball fans will enjoy having two high-end NBA teams operating out of Staples Center.

Chris Paul was spectacular, and Kobe Bryant again hit the 40-point mark. Fans saw a good show and the LAC drew first blood. Here are four takeaways:

1. This has the potential to become an ugly rivalry.

You knew something might be up when the second preseason game between these teams looked a little like lost outtakes of prison hoops sequences from "Oz." A little chippy, to say the least. Saturday, there were more moments of tension. Darius Morris going to dunk on a dead ball, and getting a stiff arm from Blake Griffin underneath, a play nearly sending Mike Brown over the edge. He had to be restrained on the Lakers bench by John Kuester and Chuck Person, while earning himself a T. There was the play where Metta World Peace arm-barred Griffin in the third quarter when he thought Griffin was over his back, then tossed a couple elbows in Paul's unfortunately nearby face. Moments later, there was another scrap involving Paul, Josh McRoberts, DeAndre Jordan, and Morris.

Matt Barnes spent most of the evening looking as if he might take someone's head off. More than normal.

The Clippers did themselves a disservice getting all scraptastic, firing up a fatigued, sluggish Lakers team and turning a comfortable lead into a tight game. More important, they violated the cardinal rule of NBA basketball: Don't make Kobe angry. You won't like him when he's angry.

2. The team still has no offense not directly tied to Kobe's output.

In the first half, Bryant seemed to have the leaden legs of his teammates, missing 9-of-12 shots, most coming from the perimeter, generally fadeing away, generally pretty flat. The third was a different story. He opened the quarter with a 22 footer, then moments later finished at the rim with a nice reverse layup. He set up Andrew Bynum with a slick pass over the double on a pick and roll near the top of the key, drilled a couple 3s, and made seven of eight free throws en route to a spectacular 21-point quarter.

This, plus a few nice defensive plays helping fuel the Lakers in transition. The Lakers got back into the game, and gave themselves a shot in the fourth. Again, Kobe was rock solid with his point production despite Vinny Del Negro throwing the kitchen sink at him, knocking down five of his six shots for another 10 points, finishing with 42 overall on 14-for-28 from the floor.

For those keeping score, that's four straight 40-plus game for Bryant, a remarkable stretch of scoring made particularly so given the once-again high shooting percentage. As a team, though, the Lakers lacked any real rhythm.

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It's a big game on a few levels. For the Lakers, it kicks off a six-game stretch against playoff-level opponents. Despite winning nine of their last 11 games, Mike Brown's crew hasn't quite sold the city on the team's long-term viability. A few quality wins over the next 10 days would change that. For both teams, it's a battle for position in the Pacific Division, one made all that more important thanks to a 66-game schedule. It's not too early to consider how head-to-head tiebreakers might factor in down the road.

And, of course, it's the biggest matchup between the Lakers and Clippers since that fateful day when the Clippers' ship sailed north from San Diego. There have been moments, panda rare for sure, where expectations for the Clippers exceeded those of the Lakers, but never has the city been treated to a scenario in which both teams have legitimate aspirations for a deep playoff run.

That scenario has arrived. It's a fun moment in L.A. basketball in any context, but factoring in the whole Chris Paul thing -- he's the reason the Clips are now a national sensation, but only after he was thought to be a Laker -- takes it to another level.

Here are five things to watch ...

1. Pau Gasol vs. Blake Griffin

Griffin is electric. Even if half-tuckased dunks are enough to land him on SportsCenter's Top 10. He jumps over sedans and probably could hop an SUV if given the opportunity. What he hasn't quite figured out yet: scoring against Gasol. In two games last season, Griffin shot only 41 percent (well below his season average of 50.6) and scored 19.5 points (vs. 23.3), plus struggled with foul trouble. Give a lot of the credit to Pau, who effectively used his length and mobility to frustrate Griffin. Of course, all that happened before Paul's arrival, meaning Gasol's dual responsibilities of handling Griffin and defending the pick and roll, where Brown expects a great deal from his bigs, weren't quite as burly.

Pau will have to be on his game, but the matchup also puts a great deal of strain on the Lakers' help defenders. With CP3 around, Gasol can't afford to cheat even a little in his coverage, meaning the guys behind him will have to help effectively.

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With the start of the season just around the corner, we asked some of our NBA experts to look ahead. Can the Lakers remain a title contender without Lamar Odom? Will the Clippers of Chris Paul and Blake Griffin deliver on their promise?

Andy Kamenetzky

LAKERS
Predicted record: 42-24
Predicted finish: Western Conference Semifinals, then eliminated.

The recent days haven't been sunny. Trades nixed. Sixth men traded. Direction questioned by the franchise player, who Monday added "torn wrist ligament" to a sea of recent injuries. By comparison, the lockout was fun.

Still, the sky hasn't quite fallen. Yes, the lack of two-guard depth and wings capable of creating their own shot is problematic, as is learning Mike Brown's systems on the fly. But the Laker big three stacks up well against any in the league, and some roster issues (frontcourt depth, outside shooting) were addressed. Plus, getting slapped by reality during the playoffs should erase any complacency.

I don't consider the Lakers front-runners anymore, but they're way too talented to dismiss. Good health and perhaps good use of the Odom trade exception, and they may just surprise.

CLIPPERS
Predicted record: 46-20
Predicted finish: Western Conference Finals, then eliminated.

The Bizarro-Lakers: Nothing but excitement, optimism, and finals talk. It's a mite early to declare L.A. a "Clipper town," but the legitimacy Chris Paul provides is a game-changer. Plus, that Blake Griffin character is pretty good, and Chauncey Billups, Caron Butler and DeAndre Jordan equal an excellent starting five.

Of course, there are questions about health (Butler, Paul), age (Billups) and the bench (low on scorers beyond Mo Williams). Vinny Del Negro isn't proven. And if a deep playoff run awaits, how will Griffin fare in his first appearance?

For that matter, how will overnight expectations of greatness be handled?
However, if the answer is "well," the Clips could be among the NBA's scariest teams.

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Dave McMenamin

LAKERS
Predicted record: 42-24
Predicted finish: Second round of playoffs

The reports of the Lakers demise are greatly exaggerated. While they might not be the top-five championship contender they've been the last several seasons, it's not like they're lottery bound either. As long as Andrew Bynum can stay healthy and Kobe Bryant doesn't miss too much time because of the torn ligament in his right wrist, the Lakers' core as it is currently constructed should end up somewhere in the 3-5 seed range, with a good shot at a home playoff series to begin the postseason.

CLIPPERS
Predicted record: 40-26
Predicted finish: First round of playoffs

They aren't quite there yet in terms of being a title team, but the offseason acquisitions of Chris Paul, Chauncey Billups and Caron Butler should be enough to push them into the playoffs for the first time since 2006. They had better invest in a backup big man, however. After Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, their frontcourt depth gets very thin. Just because predictions are meaningless (does anybody else remember Phil Jackson guaranteeing the Lakers would be bringing their Western Conference semifinals series back to L.A. after falling down 2-0 and heading to Dallas?), I'll say the Clippers end up the five seed, the Lakers end up the four seed and I won't have to book any hotels, flights or car rentals for the first round of the playoffs.

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