Overreactions from the Los Angeles Lakers’ first week

1. The Lakers are light years behind the Clippers

In their first two games this season, the new-look Clippers were a destructive force. They beat the Los Angeles Lakers by 10 points, then routed the Golden State Warriors by almost 20.

Leonard played about as flawlessly and efficiently as one could play. Williams was getting buckets on autopilot. Harrell was a beast in the paint. Patrick Beverley was creating havoc on defense. You couldn’t even leave Patrick Patterson open or he’d splash 3-pointers on you. And that was all without Paul George, who’s still rehabbing from shoulder surgery.

The Lakers were clearly outplayed in the opener — they seemed unprepared for a game that the Clippers approached with a playoff-like intensity — but it’s not like they are a whole level beneath the Clippers.

While the Clippers were missing their second-best player on opening night, the Lakers were also short-handed without Kuzma and Rondo. And while the Clippers added two major pieces in the offseason, the Lakers replaced about half of their roster and will need more time to find their identity.

The Clippers-as-world-beaters narrative came back to Earth in their third game, when LA lost to the Phoenix Suns. The Lakers, meanwhile, are rolling with three straight wins.

The first meeting between the Lakers and Clipper was merely an undercard match before the main event. They will see each other again on Christmas, and everyone wants to see the Battle for Los Angeles go down in the playoffs.

Right now it’s too early to declare a heavy favorite or underdog in that dream series.