It’s Becoming Hard to Tell Them Apart

More than ever, the Lakers and Clippers look like mirror images of each other. The reflection isn’t very flattering.

Neither one is beautiful enough to be on the stage when the NBA crowns its beauty pageant winner in June.

It’s especially difficult to tell them apart with Kobe Bryant sidelined by a sprained ankle. Bryant had been the only thing keeping the Laker record from looking more like the Clippers’. Think he might have made a difference in those five games the Clippers have lost by three points or fewer?

The distinguishing characteristic for the Clippers on Wednesday night was their strong frontcourt play. Elton Brand went for 28 points and 14 rebounds, while Chris Kaman had a solid 14 points and 16 rebounds in the Clippers’ 105-89 victory.

At least you get the sense the Clippers are gradually building toward something. Four of their starters were under 26, and I can’t wait to see rookie Shaun Livingston deliver on the tease he provided in the first 11 games before he dislocated his kneecap. More importantly, Livingston, Brand and Corey Maggette aren’t going anywhere for a while. There’s a lot to like there.

The Clippers are still at the stage where a close loss at San Antonio is considered a promising sign.

And now, so are the Lakers.

The bottom didn’t fall out from under the Lakers when they traded Shaquille O’Neal to Miami last summer. The players they brought in are young, hungry and play hard ... just like the Clippers.

The Lakers are just waiting for another franchise player to come their way via free agency.

The latest thing is for the talk-show callers to question everything about Rudy Tomjanovich, from his offense to his substitution pattern. I’d like to see a little more Luke Walton, too, but does anyone think a little more run for Walton or Slava Medvedenko would solve all the Lakers’ problems? (We didn’t get to see any Walton on Wednesday. One night after he scored a career-high 19 points against Seattle, he had to miss the Clipper game because of a sprained ankle).

This was one of those nights when the lack of an inside presence really affected them. Brian Cook played big man for a while in the second quarter, swatting a Maggette dunk attempt and throwing down a dunk of his own, part of a very active 12 minutes in which he scored 12 points. But Brand and Kaman feasted on the Lakers the rest of the night.

Another way the Lakers and Clippers looked alike Wednesday night: Neither had Lamar Odom.

If nothing else, Odom creates a focal point for the other defense, drawing the double-teams that usually get sent Bryant’s way. Clipper Coach Mike Dunleavy said as much, saying beforehand, “That’ll be the test of our game tonight, if we can guard him one-on-one.”

Turns out they didn’t have to guard him much at all. He spent most of the game in foul trouble, played only nine minutes in the first half, 23 overall before fouling out with eight points, six rebounds and three assists. He didn’t even get to watch the entire game, as the officials ejected him after he received his second technical foul while sitting on the bench.

When he did play, he looked adrift and out of the flow. That’s been the great quandary for the Lakers, their inability to get maximum use out of Odom, the key component in the O’Neal trade.

When Bryant plays, Odom is often relegated to a bystander. Both players need to have the ball in order to be effective. The one thing we haven’t seen Bryant do is play well off the ball, running around screens, catching-and-shooting in the manner of Reggie Miller and Rip Hamilton. That’s not a fault in his game; Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson weren’t great without the ball either.

And neither is Odom. Although, he clarifies, “You don’t have to call a play for me.”

You just have to let him play.

This was one of those frustrating nights for him when nothing went his way. Missed layups and foul call after foul call, leading to extensive time on the bench.

“I was a coach tonight,” Odom said.

“A bad game is when you play and you miss and you don’t play defense. I wasn’t even able to play.”

He said he picked up the last technical because “I wanted the ref to feel my pain.”

Perhaps the Clippers were a little too emotional, themselves, just a tad giddy about this victory. But they’re still the team trying to get something. Remember, the Clippers don’t have any fabric on the Staples Center walls. No championship banners, no retired jerseys.

All they have are perceptions, and words, and Marko Jaric’s rubbed the Lakers the wrong way when he said Tuesday: “I still believe that we are a better team and we’re going to show that sooner or later.”

Jaric later clarified: “I didn’t want to offend them. I respect the Lakers a lot.

“I don’t want to take anything from them. I just want to say that we have a lot of confidence and everything, we’re a great team now.”

Great? Easy, Romeo. Try getting to .500 first.

But the Lakers are a decent team, and now, for what feels like the first time since they moved to Los Angeles, the Clippers are right there with them.