NBA looking ahead: Lakers at Clippers

Power forward Blake Griffin (32) of the Clippers and Pau Gaol of the Lakers are the two healthy stars who will lead their teams into battle against each other on Friday night.

By Ben Bolch

Jan. 4, 2014 12 AM PT

LAKERS AT CLIPPERS

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday.

TV: ESPN, Time Warner Cable, Prime Ticket.

The Lakers’ championship banners will be covered and so will much of the intrigue when the Chris Paul-deprived Clippers take on a MASH unit of Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, Steve Blake and Jordan Farmar all dressed in swanky suits. At least the Clippers retain some tangible upside with a playoff berth to come this spring; the Lakers are faced with that old Shakespearean dilemma: to tank or not to tank? Beating the Clippers for a second time this season could be the closest the Lakers get to seeing a title, at least until they play their next home game and take down the banners of Blake Griffin & Co. shrouding the reminders of happier days that hang from the rafters.

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Ben Bolch

Ben Bolch has been a Los Angeles Times staff writer since 1999. He is serving his second stint as the UCLA beat writer, which seems fitting since he has covered almost every sports beat except hockey and horse racing. Bolch is also the author of the recently released book “100 Things UCLA Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die.” He previously covered UCLA basketball from 2010-11 before going on to cover the NBA and the Clippers for five years. He happily traded in gobs of hotel points and airline miles to return to cover UCLA basketball and football in the summer of 2016. Bolch was once selected by NBA TV’s “The Starters” as the “Worst of the Week” after questioning their celebrity journalism-style questions at an NBA All-Star game and considers it one of his finer moments.

NBA looking ahead: Lakers at Clippers

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