Byron Scott's confidence in the Lakers almost carried over to Friday's game. Almost.
The Lakers' coach proclaimed the city of L.A. to still be owned by the Lakers, not the Clippers, chuckling as he said it Friday morning.
Then the Lakers went out and proved him right, until Kobe Bryant went wrong and the Clippers won, 118-111.
Bryant had been playing a great game, pounding out the points while shooting effortlessly and continually visiting the foul line.
He missed three key shots in the final four minutes, however, including a three-point attempt while moving to his right with 16 seconds left and the Lakers down three.
Let the debate begin anew. Lakers town or Clippers town?
The Clippers have now won eight of their last nine against the Lakers, Blake Griffin scoring 39 points Friday and Jamal Crawford adding 22 in a designated Lakers home game at Staples Center.
Fans were handed shirts that said "Fear Nothing," which was funny given the Lakers' first two games, blowout losses to Houston and Phoenix.
But the Clippers weren't laughing much until the last few seconds. If they even did that.
They can thank Griffin for his game-long effort and Crawford for providing a fourth-quarter jolt.
The Lakers haven't started 0-4 since 1957, though it seems more than realistic with a game Saturday at Golden State, where they lost twice last season by an average of 25 points.
It was the Lakers' game to take but Bryant fell cold as the rain came down outside.
He missed a three-point attempt with 3:28 to play and then a 16-footer. He connected on a 17-footer over Chris Paul with 1:19 to play that brought the Lakers to within 112-111 but then missed the late three-point attempt.
"Those are shots that we all know he can knock those down," Scott said. "I think a couple of them were just a little short but right on line. Those are shots we'd love for him to have again."
Bryant finished with 21 points on six-for-15 shooting. He also had seven assists.
It was another strange game by the Clippers, who had an uninspiring exhibition season and then a surprisingly even 93-90 victory against injury-damaged Oklahoma City in their season opener.
There was nothing uninspiring about Griffin. He made 13 of 23 shots and, of great importance, 11 of 12 from the free-throw line.
"We have a guy that we can drop the ball to," Clippers Coach Doc Rivers said. "There's nothing better to stop a run than when you say, 'OK, throw it down there.'"
"He's our go-to guy," said Paul, who had 12 points and 10 assists.
Crawford was, too, on Friday, scoring 14 points on only four shots in the fourth quarter.
"Big time. Jamal hit some unbelievable shots," Paul said. "I told him, 'Look man, I'm guarding Kobe down here. You all have got to go to work on that end.'"
The Clippers, though, couldn't stop Jordan Hill, who hammered them with mid-range shots from all over the perimeter and finished with 23 points.
Several hours before the game, Scott smiled at the question of whose town it was. He played on three Lakers championship teams, after all, and the Clippers have never made it past the second round of the playoffs.
"When they get about 13 banners, then it will be a rivalry," Scott said, cognizant the Lakers have won 16 titles.
Los Angeles is "going to always be purple and gold," Scott said, adding the Clippers have "a lot" of catching up to do.
Friday was nothing like the Lakers' worst loss in their history — a 142-94 embarrassment against the Clippers last March.
Little by little, though, the Clippers keep making small indentations.
Friday was just another one, even though it was in doubt to the end.
mike.bresnahan@latimes.com
Twitter: @Mike_Bresnahan
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