The battle for L.A. supremacy took an interesting turn on Wednesday night at the Staples Center with the Los Angeles Clippers being the visiting team against the division rival Los Angeles Lakers. With the Lakers coming into this game with a three-game losing streak, Kobe Bryant and company were obviously struggling and desperately need of a win to get back on track.

Not only were the Lakers desperate for a win heading into this showdown with the crosstown rivals, but the Clippers had taken advantage of their rival’s struggles by jumping to first place in the Pacific division. That being said, this game was crucial for many reasons for the Lakeshow. Along with needing the win, Lakers forward Pau Gasol spoke up earlier in the week about wanting more touches and being more involved in the offense.

Fortunately for new head coach Mike Brown, Pau Gasol made good on his promise to step it up and become more aggressive offensively. With 23 points and 10 rebounds, Gasol really started to come on strong against the likes of Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan and Reggie Evans. Kobe Bryant on the other hand struggled with seven turnovers, but the Black Mamba still led the way for the Lakers in the scoring department with a team high 24 points.

The one real bright spot for the Lakers in this game against the Clippers was the bench play. Rookie Andrew Goudelock showed just how well he can play with extended minutes (20 mins) on the floor as he scored 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting (2-for-3 from 3-point land). Metta World Peace also got his team fired up with some passionate play on defense all game long.

As for the Clippers, Chris Paul finally returned from the nagging hamstring injury, but struggled offensively with just four points. Paul did dish out a game-high 12 assists though, unfortunately it wasn’t enough to get the best of the Lakers on Wednesday night, 96-91.

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