Lakers vs Clippers: Why Chris Paul Won't Be Enough to Push Clips Past Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers will battle in their first meeting of the regular season on Saturday, and despite what the players say, there is more at stake tonight than a win in the standings.

Both teams are fighting for basketball supremacy in the City of Los Angeles, a battle the Lakers haven't had to fight in quite some time.

It will be an exciting matchup, and Lakers star guard Kobe Bryant is ready for the challenge.

"It's a good test. I'm looking forward to it," Bryant said. "It's going to be a good challenge. We're going to be pumped up and excited. There's going to be a lot of energy."

A lot of the energy will be centered around new Clippers points guard Chris Paul.

Paul nearly joined the Lakers this offseason, but the NBA killed the proposed trade that would have sent him to the Lakers from the New Orleans Hornets. Instead, the NBA approved a trade that sent Paul to the Clippers, angering Lakers fans everywhere.

While the addition of Paul makes the Clippers better at both ends of the floor with his play making and perimeter defense, the only way to beat the Lakers is to win the battle in the paint.

Lakers center Andrew Bynum and power forward Pau Gasol are the best front court duo in basketball, and are two seven-foot big men that dominate at both ends of the floor.

Bynum and Gasol are both averaging just under 17 points per game, and are grabbing 13.6 and 9.7 rebounds per game, respectively.

As a team, the Lakers are second in the league in rebounding, while the Clippers are second to last. Basketball games are won and lost in the paint, and this decided edge the Lakers have in the middle is something the Clippers must overcome to overtake the purple and gold.

Clippers star forward Blake Griffin is averaging 10.3 rebounds per game this season, and is the only player pulling down 10 or more rebounds a night for the Clippers. Center DeAndre Jordan and forward Reggie Evans are Griffin's only teammates averaging more than five boards per game. The Lakers have six player averaging more than five rebounds per game.

Winning the rebounding battle and playing defense consistently is the way the Clippers will move past the Lakers, but right now the Lakers have a clear edge in both aspects of the game. The Lakers are also fourth in points allowed per game, the Clippers are 23rd.

The alley-oops and exciting play the Clippers give their fans every night are cool, but to become a playoff-caliber team they must improve defensively and rebound much better.

Defense is the common denominator of all great teams, and without a consistent effort on defense the Clippers will never reach their full potential.

Paul was a really good addition for the Clippers, but their success will ultimately be determined by how well Griffin and the rest of the team's frontcourt rebounds and plays defense.

Nicholas Goss is a Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report, follow him on Twitter.

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