5 Bold Predictions for 1st Lakers Game on Clippers' Regular-Season Schedule

Slated to meet on January 14th, only a few weeks into the regular season, this will be the first time in a long time that we're actually excited to see the Los Angeles Lakers take on the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Clippers brought about momentary excitement last season thanks in part to the high-flying acrobatics of Blake Griffin, but they have raised the bar significantly and now feature arguably the league's top point guard in Chris Paul after the Clippers dealt for him late in the night on December 14th. The Clippers were forced to give up a few quality pieces, but it'll be worth it as they'll have an All-Star point guard to begin throwing up passes to Griffin.

So not only are we in for an entertaining game between a Lakers team that possesses arguably the greatest competitor in the league in Kobe Bryant and a Clippers team that will have the combo of Paul and Griffin, but we should be in for a battle, as well, with both teams now being evenly matched.

The Lakers depleted their bench trading Lamar Odom as they now have Matt Barnes and Steve Blake to look towards for support off the pine. Without Odom, the Lakers are a lot more vulnerable and that means a team like the Clippers will be sure to give them heavy competition this season and over the next few seasons as well, if CP3 is willing to sign an extension.

The old school takes on the new school midway through January and here are five bold predictions to look forward to.

The Crowd Will Be Neutral

When was the last time a matchup between the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers featured a neutral crowd?

Possibly never, and there sure hasn't been a time where the Clippers' fanbase outweighed that of the Lakers' strong fanbase. The reason being because the Lakers are a legendary team that's seen consistent success with countless superstars, while the Clippers are usually wallowing at the bottom of the division and just looking to keep up.

It's a depressing sight for the Clippers to know that two of their home games won't actually be home games since the Lakers fanbase will populate the majority of the stadium, despite their logo being on the floor. These two teams meet up four times a year due to being in the same division and it's always been a pro-Laker crowd for as long as we can remember.

However, with Chris Paul now on the team and generating interest in the Clippers franchise, we should expect to see a great deal of red, white, and blue jerseys with Paul on the back. Losing Eric Gordon hurts the Clippers, but he doesn't have the kind of hype and potential that Paul is sure to bring to the team.

This is the greatest thing to happen to Clippers land in a few decades and there's no doubt that the fanbase will finally come out of hiding and support their team to a win over their cross-town rivals.

Blake Griffin Drops 35 Points

Coming off of a first season where he won Rookie of the Year after averaging 22 points and 12 boards per, Blake Griffin was the first reason to get Clippers fans excited for the future.

The team managed to uncharacteristically not botch their pick in the 2009 when selecting the NCAA's top athlete in Oklahoma's Blake Griffin. They'd still manage to find a way to set themselves back after Griffin managed to hurt his knee in the final game of the preseason and suffered an injury so catastrophic that he would have to sit out the entire season.

It made it all the more surprising when we saw Griffin come out the next season following the injury and put constant stress on his knee, due to the constant landings he had to endure when falling down from the stratosphere following a dunk. Griffin wasn't fearful of re-injuring his knee and he didn't let it affect his performance in the slightest as he become one of the league's most feared players in the paint.

Griffin's scoring was phenomenal last season as saw the majority of his points come in the paint, with so few coming from the mid-range. The team is looking for Griffin to become a Karl Malone-type of power forward, which means that he'll have to eventually develop some sort of mid-range game before teams begin packing the paint and rendering him useless on the offensive end.

However, with Chris Paul now on his team and dishing out assists, Griffin is sure to go off and could possibly finish in the top five in points per game this upcoming season. He'll have one of his top early performances of the season as he and the Clippers will look to make a statement against the Lakers.

Being defended Pau Gasol means that Griffin has the advantage of strength, which is sure to translate to Blake going off and posting up 35 points.

Kobe Bryant Goes for 40

Kobe Bryant knows what this game and this season in general means. He recognizes that this season is one of only a few that represents him possibly contending for a sixth title. At 33 years old, dealing with injuries and having played over 40,000 minutes since 1996, Bryant doesn't have many years left in him and that means we should expect to see an even hungrier player this season.

This Clippers game is of great importance as well. Bryant's probably heard the rumors of how his team is on the decline, while the Clippers are only rising up towards stardom. With the teams set to match up early in the season and with a possible neutral crowd on the way, Bryant is going to have to be the one to put the team on his shoulders and carry them to a victory.

Kobe's not going to let Los Angeles become Clippers town and he wants the consensus to believe that he and the Lakers can manage without Lamar Odom, while still reigning supreme as the team to beat in Los Angeles.

Expect a huge game for Bryant as he'll top Griffin's 35 points with a solid 40-point game of his own to lead all scorers.

Chris Paul Comes a Stat Short of a Triple-Double

Arriving via trade in a deal that sent Eric Gordon, Al-Farouq Aminu, Chris Kaman and a conditional first-round pick to New Orleans, Chris Paul will be looking to recreate the face of the Clippers and convert them into the postseason team that they never were.

This Clippers' last playoff appearance came in 2007, which also happened to be the first time that they made it to the second round since 1976 when they weren't even in Los Angeles. Couple that with the fact that the team has yet to win 50 games despite being an NBA franchise since the early-1970's and you'll see exactly why the Clippers have become the punchline of the sporting world.

The franchise has become accustomed to failure and Chris Paul does not want that to be the case much longer. He's looking to win games and win them now, which is the exact reason he left New Orleans. Paul didn't like the roster he was surrounded with and didn't enjoy the fact that the organization had done nothing to surround him with talent following their division championship in 2008 when they also won a franchise-high 56 games.

Just like Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul knows what this games means to the state of the organization and the Clippers' fanbase. Both teams will be out looking to make a statement for different reasons and it's going to come down to which team leader wants it more.

With Paul looking to secure the admiration of the Clippers fanbase, while also helping them to get out of hiding, he's going to go for a near triple-double as he'll fall a rebound short of the feat. The fact that he'll be going against Derek Fisher and Steve Blake for the majority of the night is going to be ideal for Paul as he'll be able to pick and choose his shots and pass at will.

The Clippers Win

This is a significant game for both sides. The Lakers are out to prove that they're still the dominant team in L.A., while also proving that they can cope without Lamar Odom. The Clippers are out to show the world that they are no longer a punchline and will be adamant about making it to the postseason and taking over L.A. while they're at it.

With Kobe Bryant set to go for 40, Blake Griffin going for 35 and Chris Paul posting up a near triple-double, this is going to be one of the best early games of the season. After years of Lakers dominance over an inept Clippers team, the other team in Los Angeles is out on a mission to prove that they can hang with the best and are ready to make progress as soon as the 2011-'12 season.

This game will go down to the wire with Chris Paul and Kobe Bryant exchanging blows the entire way. In the end, it will come down to who possess the most weapons and with Paul having Blake Griffin, Caron Butler and DeAndre Jordan on his side to work with, the Clippers should actually be able to pull out a win over their division rivals.

It won't signify anything near the end of the Lakers' dominance in Los Angeles, but it will be a quality start by the Clippers to show that they're serious about making progress and that they're actually looking towards making it to the postseason with CP3 helping to lead the way.