Tuesday's game -- Lakers 99, Clippers 92 -- from the Clippers' perspective:
Coach Mike Dunleavy: "We didn't do a good job tonight. I thought we were careless with the basketball. When we took care of the ball we did well and we kept ourselves in the game. There was a differential with the turnovers and the offensive boards." The Clippers committed 20 turnovers, leading to 24 Lakers points; the Lakers committed 16 turnovers, leading to 13 Clippers points. Offensive rebounds did favor the Lakers, but just 17-15, and the Clippers actually had a 23-18 edge in second-chance points.
"They are a long team and strong at their positions ... We didn't do a good job of going to their bodies and creating space for us to rebounds the ball. Had we taken care of one of those areas, we could have given ourselves a chance to win this one."
Baron Davis: "Last year we got blown out but I think this year it's a different team. We really felt we could've won this game. If you take away a lot of mistakes that we made at the end of the first quarter and all the turnovers we had tonight, it would've been a different ballgame."
Chris Kaman: "We did a good job of coming back strong when their second team fell back. Then a few mistakes happened, and you're down 10, and that's not a good place to be when you're playing the Lakers. In ths econd half we palyed better and didn't turn the ball over as much. But the Lakers capitalized on big plays and then we couldn't catch up."
Kaman, on losing Blake Griffin, out for six weeks with a stress fracture of his left kneecap: "You know, I don't really care aobut all that stuff you hear. You're dealt the cards and you play them. There's nothing you can do about it. Blake's a good player -- he plays hard, he's got great potential and I thought he had a great preseason. But all we can do is look forward and try to get some wins."

Pau Gasol (strained right hamstring) will not play in tonight's Lakers season opener with the Clippers, having been placed on the inactive list because of his strained right hamstring.
"We hope Friday's possible," said coach Phil Jackson, referring to the Lakers' next game, against Dallas. He added that he didn't think Gasol would need a practice before returning to action.
"He's the kind of player that can fit right in," Jackson said. "The last practice ... he did very well. He was right on beat. He played well. He didn't show any real signs of any inadequacy at all. But he's still fearful about it, so he needs to rest it."
Curses? In the wake of the news that rookie Blake Griffin, the No. 1 overall pick in this year's draft, is out for an estimated six weeks with a stress fracture of the kneecap -- adding to a long-running list of Clippers injury woes -- Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy told reporters he doesn't believe in curses.
In this, at least, Dunleavy and Jackson are in agreement.
"I don't believe in that," Jackson said. "I believe you make your own luck, obviously. Things have to be done the correct way, yes, and organizations do win championships -- the Jerry Krause quote comes back -- but I don't think it follows particularly, teams, because of their bad luck."
(Krause was the Bulls GM whose infamous quote that organizations win championships, rather than players, rankled Michael Jordan during the Bulls' dynasty).
Jackson expressed sympathy for Griffin.
"It's disappointing," he said. "We all wish him well and a speedy recovery on that. They've got a veteran roster; they've got backup help. They're not in the situation they were last year where they were depleted. But still, when you've got the first pick ... you want that player to have an opportunity."