At 4 this night, Italian time, the lights of the Staples Center in Los Angeles will go on and the LA derby will take place, perhaps the most awaited ever. To the detriment of any forecast at the start of the season, it will be the neglected aviators who will look down on the noble yellow-violet cousins.
For the first time since the franchise moved to the city in 1984, the Los Angeles Clippers assembled a competitive team for the final victory. Thanks to their impressive 17-game hitting streak, they found themselves with the second-best record in the league and could cross the 11-game home streak for the first time in history tonight. The team, which has the brilliant Paul and the overflowing Griffin as symbols, is back from two consecutive defeats and will not want to miss the opportunity at home to reverse the trend.
In Los Angeles well, however, things are not going the right way. The Lakers had started the season as favorites, confident that their four superstars (Bryant, Howard, Gasol and Nash) would guarantee the show and wins. Expectations clash with disappointing results: with 15 wins and 16 defeats, Mike D'Antoni's boys, who took over from coach Brown after a nightmare start, are still struggling to find an identity. With Nash only a few games back from a lengthy injury and two long undertones, the team still finds itself relying primarily on the inspiration of Kobe Bryant. The very short bench is a limit and the lack of defensive chemistry is still an unsolved problem.
The key to the match will probably be the double challenge under the scoreboard, where the bruised Howard and Gasol will have to keep the two Clippers hammers at bay: Griffin and Jordan. When the two big guys didn't shine from a scoring point of view, their team often got into trouble.
Tonight's match is full of meanings. Not only because both teams need a victory but also because this derby, which for decades has had no meaning in the imagination of the many Lakers fans and the few Clippers fans, will become a challenge that will keep the whole world glued in front of televisions. The Clippers are finally building their own identity, freeing themselves from the cumbersome presence of the Lakers. The yellow-purples, with their 16 titles, their following of Hollywood stars and starlets, the most prolific and glamorous sports brand in the world see their supremacy in the city contested. Lamar Odom, under the Clippers after winning two titles with the Lakers, showed how the team is aware of the historical importance of its results: "We are starting something that seems to be the beginning of a long tradition".
Of course, despite the sporting achievements, getting a ticket to a Clippers game still costs a fifth of what it costs to go see Kobe Brayant (about $200 versus more than $1.000 for the Lakers). But even the stars, such as guitarist Carlos Santana, are becoming passionate about the second team from LA which seems to have gained a magnetic appeal, precisely because it is alternative and unconventional. But this is about sport, not Hollywood fads, and on the LA night the pitch will do the talking.
