Clarkson and Paul Battle, Clippers Edge Lakers

On Tuesday night, the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center, but this game turned out to be far more competitive than Sunday's slaughter.

Lakers' rookies Tarik Black and Jordan Clarkson played vital roles in the team's competitive showing. Black would help the away team maintain a presence in the paint, while Clarkson shook off a rare bad game by leading the team in scoring. Clarkson scored 10 points in the first half, while Black added eight points and six rebounds before the intermission.

At the break, the Lakers trailed by 11 points, and J.J. Redick led all scorers with 17 points. Chris Paul had a relatively quiet first half with six points, five assists and five rebounds, but the fiery point guard would turn up the heat in the third quarter.

Paul would score 11 points in the third quarter to help the Clippers to a 12-point lead, but the Lakers continued to battle and cut the deficit to only seven points by quarter's end. Clarkson continued to shine and welcome the moment by responding to Paul's 11 points with 10 points of his own.

After three quarters, Clarkson had 20 points, four rebounds and three assists compared to 17 points, six assists and five rebounds for Paul. All-in-all, the rookie came back and proved he could play with, arguably, the best point guard in the NBA.

In the fourth quarter, the Lakers would trim the Clippers' advantage further and draw within one point after Ryan Kelly made a technical free throw with 5:54 to play in the ball game. The Clippers would extend that lead back to nine points with three minutes remaining. The Lakers would make it interesting down the stretch but failed to get close enough to threaten the lead.

After a series of free throws, the Clippers would win by a final count of 105-100. Paul finished with 19 points, 10 assists and five rebounds. Griffin finished as the top scorer in the game with 27 points, and the big forward added six rebounds and six assists, too. DeAndre Jordan grabbed 17 rebounds to lead in the rebounding department.