COMING ATTRACTIONS

Before the Lakers and Clippers meet Tuesday in the city series, we’ll be awash in quotes denying any rivalry. Everyone will be sincere ... as far as they go.

Intangibles count too. As Robert Vaughn, playing the villain in “Superman III,” noted, “You know, a wise man once said, I think it was Attila the Hun, ‘It is not enough that I succeed, everyone else must fail.’ ”

And who better than the haughty poseurs, or the flies on their windshield down the corridor?

Never have the teams been as competitive. In fact, it wasn’t even a competition. This is still the Lakers’ town, but until recently they ran unopposed.

It was princes vs. wretches until the Clippers shot ahead in the standings and returned the disdain.

Said Elton Brand after winning last season’s first meeting: “We were better than them last year. We have to shoot for the teams above us.” The season series was still split, 2-2.

Both teams are still on the rise and in each other’s way. Now it’s really, if quietly, personal.

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--MARK HEISLER