Chris Paul (photo. Daymon Gardner)
It was fun watching Craig knock Deebo out. And in the ongoing Lakers/Clippers rivalry, it almost feels like that scene is playing out again and again. Los Angeles will always be a Lakers city. Always. But presently, there’s no question which team is best. The Clips answered the call again in yesterday’s matinee, busting up their big brother, 109-95. They go to another level almost at will against the Lakers. Early in the second half, you could feel it coming. Even with Kobe (25 points, 10 dimes) getting cranky and bellowing “Let’s go… let’s go!” the Lakers could not reach back into the chamber and pull out more bullets. You watch Steve Blake miss corner three after corner three. You see the Lakers get beat to every loose ball. Then you see Ryan Hollins dunking on heads, Chris Paul (24 points, 12 assists) hitting rainbows, Matt Barnes being quietly effective, and it’s no wonder, it’s no secret that the Lakers just can’t hang. In the end, Blake Griffin (24 points, 12 boards) capped off the team’s new division title with a gravity-defying follow up on a CP miss and then hit a triple. … There was a first half comparison of passing between Bryant and Griffin. Have you ever seen that before? Griffin had four dimes by the break, threading needles all over the place from the high post. Bryant was even better. He had nine assists in the first half, including back-to-back ones just before the break where first he found Pau Gasol off the pick-n-roll with a behind-the-back, then brought it up on the fast break and lobbed it to Howard, who finished with a dunk and a foul over Jamal Crawford. … Caron Butler had a throwback moment in the first half, going baseline and cramming on Antawn Jamison‘s unsuspecting head. Feeling good about himself, he tried it again in the second half against Dwight Howard (25 points). Superman nearly palmed the ball at the apex for one of the best blocks of the season. … Marc Gasol went from the goat to the hero during Memphis’ 89-87 victory in Sacramento. Up one with a minute left, Gasol (15 points, 10 boards, five blocks) missed two freebies, and that was followed up with DeMarcus Cousins (22 points, nine rebounds) pulling out a 17-footer that spun in to give the Kings a one-point lead, finishing off a 9-0 spurt. Mike Conley (25 points) countered with a floater with the off hand before Gasol redeemed himself on the following possession (sort of) by blocking/fouling Cousins at the rim, causing DMC to lose his cool and nearly get thrown out. Finally, Sacramento had one final chance but Gasol locked up Marcus Thornton, and then the big man stuff the potential game-winner. … Conley’s been a new guy since Memphis traded Rudy Gay. He’s become the go-to player down the stretch for Memphis, something you never would’ve thought possible even so much as a year ago. They went to him over and over again on Friday night in Los Angeles, and while that didn’t work, probably the most telling sign is that they went right back to him again last night. … And Kevin Garnett returned to the lineup for Boston, and while his numbers weren’t impressive (12 points, six boards), his presence helped slow the hard-charging Wizards. The Celtics beat them by 11, getting a game-high 20 points from Brandon Bass. … Keep reading to get an update on the crazy NBA scoring race…