Tonight at 10:30 p.m. ET, the NBA tips off with a battle between two Los Angeles teams as the Clippers take on the Lakers live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The game can be live streamed here. Clippers fans can hear all the action on KFWB 980 AM while Lakers fans can do the same on 710 ESPN Radio.
The Clippers took over Los Angeles as its best team last season en route to posting a 56-26 record while sweeping the season series for the first time since coming to L.A. by winning all four meetings against their arena-mates.
The Lakers went 45-37 a year ago after acquiring Dwight Howard and Steve Nash, who were both plagued by injuries. The Lakers will start the season without Kobe Bryant for the first time in seven years as he recovers from a torn Achilles tendon suffered during the team's first round sweep at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs while Howard has left for the Houston Rockets.
The Clippers are hoping to bounce back after a great regular season culminating in an early first-round exit at the hands of the Memphis Grizzlies last year.
"We have higher expectations for ourselves than anybody else," forward Blake Griffin told ESPN. "We don't feel we've arrived until we win a championship."
As a result, Vinny Del Negro was fired by the Clippers and Doc Rivers was brought in with the hopes that he can help the team reach its full potential as its amassed 96 wins over the last two years but has never made it past the second round. Rivers has already made his mark, calling for the Lakers retired numbers and championship banners to be covered during Clippers home games.
Point guard Chris Paul has learned what it's like to work under Rivers early on.
"You always want someone to push you and motivate you," said Paul, who tied for the league lead in steals with 2.4 per game and finished second in assists at 9.7 but has only won two playoff series in his career, according to ESPN. "In our first meeting, he told me I hadn't really done anything in this league, and he's right."
The Lakers meanwhile have set no timetable for the return of Bryant and will look to Nash and Pau Gasol to lead the way offensively until he returns.
"It's really important for us to embrace these low expectations, try to find chemistry and build ourselves into a team that has some confidence," Nash told ESPN.
Basketball returns to the Staples Center tonight when its two tenants go head-to-head as the Clippers and Lakers both look to start off on the right foot.
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