Lakers, Clippers to Kick Off Preseason

Los Angeles - The Los Angeles Lakers will face the Los Angeles Clippers tonight in the first NBA preseason game at Staples Center since the end of the lockout that delayed the start of play by more than two months.

The game will mark the debuts of both Mike Brown as the Lakers' coach and the recently acquired perennial all-star Chris Paul as the Clippers' starting point guard.

Brown told reporters after Sunday's practice at the Toyota Sports Center that tonight's game will be "a little bit of a learning experience for me and the team."

"What I like to do during the preseason is I like to try to get better, to try to get better every play," said Brown, named in May to succeed Phil Jackson, who retired at the conclusion of last season.

"Sometimes, if you see we have a weakness and we're getting our behinds hammered in one area of the game, people may be thinking, 'Dang, he can't make adjustments, dang, he can't make adjustments.' Our players might even think that.

"But I might stay with it, just to see if whoever's involved in it is going to have enough toughness to fight their way out of it or say, 'I'm fouling out and take me out of the game when I get fouled out."'

Because the Lakers will only play two preseason games instead of the customary eight, Brown said, "we have to start getting our rotations down."

The two teams will meet in a second exhibition game at Staples Center Wednesday, then begin regular-season play Sunday, with the Lakers playing host to the Chicago Bulls at Staples Center and the Clippers playing at Golden State.