Clippers at Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers officially ruled Kobe Bryant out for Tuesday’s season opener, leaving the stage set for Doc Rivers and the rival Los Angeles Clippers. Rivers will spend his first game on the sidelines with his new team when the Clippers serve as visitors Tuesday in the arena they share with the Lakers. Bryant, who suffered a torn Achilles' tendon toward the end of last season, is practicing with the team in a limited capacity.
Rivers made headlines over the summer when he jumped from the Boston Celtics to the Clippers, drawing criticism from Celtics' fans while giving Clippers' fans hope that the team can build on last season’s progress. The Clippers quickly re-signed Chris Paul and brought in J.J. Redick to help spread the floor for Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan inside. The Lakers, who slid into the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference last spring before bowing out in the first round, lost Dwight Howard to the Houston Rockets and watched Bryant, Steve Nash and Pau Gasol grow one year older.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, TNT
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (2012-13: 56-26): The Clippers set some franchise high-water marks in 2012-13 by finishing 30 games over .500 and winning the Pacific Division. Still, after bowing out in the first round of the playoffs despite winning the first two games against the Memphis Grizzlies, the Clippers decided a change in leadership was needed and fired Vinny Del Negro and brought in a coach with a championship pedigree in Rivers. The former Boston coach is known for his work on the defensive end and he came away from the preseason impressed with the effort of Jordan and Griffin on that end.
ABOUT THE LAKERS (2012-13: 45-37): Los Angeles was crushed by injuries and struggled to fit into coach Mike D’Antoni’s system last season before coming on late to nab a playoff spot. The 2013-14 campaign looks like it’s off to a similar start with Bryant on the shelf and Nash limited by nagging ankle and neck injuries. With Howard gone, Gasol can move to center and play a more traditional role in the middle of D’Antoni’s offense as a passer from the high post when the Lakers go small.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Bryant scaled back his workouts and is not close to participating in a full practice.
2. The Clippers swept the season series with the Lakers in 2012-13 for the first time since the franchise was known as the Buffalo Braves in 1974-75.
3. Veteran G/F Nick Young, who struggled 9.7 points on 39.4 percent shooting in 22 games with the Clippers in the 2011-12 season, was picked up by the Lakers in the offseason and is expected to start at small forward.