The gauntlet was thrown after the Lakers win over Houston.
Lamar Odom was interviewed after that game and was asked about the team's next game, a designated battle against the Clippers at Staples Center. Specifically, the interviewer wanted to know if it felt like an away game. Odom smiled, looked up to the crowd and said, "No, we still see lots of purple and gold. This is our home court".
The battle for L.A. was on.
Of course, it hadn't been much of a battle to that point, which explains Odom's cockiness—with the last nine games all going to the Lakers.
In fact, the last nine years out of 10 belonged to the Lakers. The sole exception being 2006 when the Clippers beat up the Lakers.
Odom's quip must have reached Playa Vista where the Clippers practice. The day before the game Chris Kaman made it clear he wasn't intimidated. "We can beat any team in the league, including the Lakers."
At least one columnist made fun of that quote. The audacity of the weakling calling out the school bully. It would come back to haunt the Clippers and Kaman, wouldn't it?
I won't lie to you and say there was any ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NBA
Article written by Jose Salviati
Clippers-Lakers: The L.A. David’s Beat Up the L.A. Goliath’s
January 7th, 2010 by Jose Salviati Leave a reply »
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