LOS ANGELES -- Three months after a heated recruiting battle that pitted Los Angeles' two NBA teams against one another for the services of Kawhi Leonard, the Clippers and Lakers took the fight to the floor, where talent acquisitions are transformed into stardom. Years of planning, posturing, billboards and flight-tracking finally translated into actual basketball between two teams who play in the same building and each have a claim as title favorites.
Angelenos are notoriously late arrivals, but on Tuesday night, they filled the bowl at Staples Center early, as if they were concerned they might miss something.