LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Clippers were supposed to be shoving the Los Angeles Lakers out of the limelight.
So far this season, Kobe Bryant and his Lakers teammates are still taking the bows.
Bryant had a relatively quiet game with 29 points, and the Lakers beat the Clippers 97-88 last night to defeat their Staples Center co-tenants for the second time in less than two weeks.
He still downplayed the rivalry between the teams, whose locker rooms are some 30 feet apart.
“This is such a long season and we enjoy the matchups, as I'm sure they do. But that's where it stays. My theory on that is rivalries are made in the playoffs, not in the regular season,” said Bryant, who scored 40 points in their earlier meeting.
“In the playoffs, that's when things kind of heat up. But this is something that the city wants to talk about, and as players we can't help but respond to that type of challenge.”
The Lakers' Lamar Odom had 18 points and eight rebounds before fouling out in the final minute. Smush Parker added 11 points.
Cuttino Mobley and Elton Brand had 17 points apiece in the loss. Sam Cassell scored 16 for the Clippers, who were beaten for the sixth time in their last seven games.
“It was disappointing; we had a lot of lapses tonight,” Brand said. “Late in the game we have to trust each other and be a team.”
Bryant was coming off a 52-point performance in a victory over Utah on Thursday night, when he went 19-of-26 in a rout of the Jazz.
He was 11-of-23 in the rematch against the Clippers.
The Lakers lead the Pacific Division with an 11-5 mark. The Clippers are last at 7-8.
“I don't know the reason for our success compared to theirs,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. “They're perhaps not shooting the ball as well. They've had some injuries that have changed their timing and coordination skills, for instance.”
The Lakers lead the all-time series 138-43, but the teams split the season series each of the past two years.
