From: sportsillustrated.cnn.com

LOS ANGELES -- Who was the evil NBA schedule maker who thought it would be funny to have the Clippers play the Lakers on opening night? It's one thing to be viewed as the "other team" in town but it's another to be present on the night the Lakers are given their championship rings and unveil their most recent championship banner at Staples Center, which is also the Clippers' home -- although you'd never know it by looking up at the rafters.

Having the Lakers try on their championship rings for the first time in front of the Clippers seems as wrong as Bill Gates eating caviar and sipping on champagne in front of a group of people waiting in line at a food bank.

That's probably why Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy saved his player from salivating over the Lakers' new 15 karat yellow-and-white gold rings by taking them back to their locker room before the presentation. "We're in the locker room doing stretches and yoga," said Dunleavy. "You have a choice to sit out there or come back in and we don't want to sit out there."

When the Clippers finally got on the court, however, they were far more competitive than most thought they would be on a night that was more a celebration of the Lakers championship last season than the beginning of the new season. While the Lakers won 99-92 (RECAP | BOX SCORE), led by Kobe Bryant's 33 points and 8 rebounds, the Clippers showed that they might not be bad as most predicted they'd be after the loss of Blake Griffin for the first six weeks of the season.

1. This Ron Artest experiment is just that until further notice. Everyone will be quick to judge the Lakers' signing of Artest based on his performance on a nightly basis early on. It will be a great pick-up if he scores 20 points and gets 10 boards and it will be a bust if he goes 0-for-10 and jacks up shots five seconds into the shot clock. The truth is, like with most experiments, there needs to be a sufficient body of work to fully judge how good a fit someone is. On Tuesday, Artest had 10 points, five rebounds and four assists, connecting on only 3-of-10 shots in 42 minutes but coach Phil Jackson said he wasn't able to assess how Artest will fit in until they played more games. It looked at times as if Artest was more focused on fitting in and finding open teammates than finding his shot, which isn't a bad thing considering most of the questions surrounding Artest in the preseason were if he would be happy simply being a role player. If the only outrageous thing he does this season is cut the Lakers logo and assorted designs into his hair this marriage might work.