Last night the Los Angeles Lakers avenged an earlier loss to the Los Angeles Clippers and stopped a three game losing streak. It also did nothing to quell the the budding Lakers-Clippers rivalry. Neither did Matt Barnes’ comments before last night’s game.
According to Fox Sports West, Barnes called Griffin a flopper while speaking at practice on Tuesday. Thankfully, because star/non-star rivalries are stupid, Griffin didn’t have a ton to say about Barnes’ comments.
“I don’t really have much to say to him or to that,” he said. “If he’s mad that I tried to take a charge, then so be it. I’m not even going to get into trash talking and going back and forth about it; if that’s what he feels, then that’s what he feels.”
After last night’s game, I can’t wait to see a Clippers-Lakers playoff series. There’s some genuine dislike there, especially when Metta World Peace reverts back to “Malace In The Palace” Ron Artest. However, as John Hollinger noted in his ESPN Insider Per Diem yesterday, there’s a chance only one LA team will make the playoffs because the West is so tightly packed record wise. Holliger pointed out that there’s even a chance that either team could finish with the West’s ninth best record, but still make the playoffs as a division winner (and get home court advantage for round one no less).
Either way, we should all thank Chris Paul for making the other LA team relevant so we can enjoy these matchups three to four times a year for the next few seasons.
