LOS ANGELES -- Pau Gasol and Steve Nash watched the entire fourth quarter from the bench. www.cheapnfljerseyschinastore.us.com . Kobe Bryant sat one row behind them in a black shirt and suit. The Lakers three veteran stars were spectators for one remarkable show put on by five Lakers reserves who werent ready to cede Los Angeles supremacy to their Staples Center rivals. Xavier Henry scored a career-high 22 points, Jordan Farmar added 16, and the Lakers surged past the Los Angeles Clippers in the final minutes for a 116-103 victory in both clubs season opener Tuesday night. By the time the Lakers reserves were done with Blake Griffin and Chris Paul, coach Doc Rivers Clippers debut was wrecked -- and so were many preconceptions about the Lakers prospects this season. The Lakers 76 bench points were the most in club history since March 1985. "Its not a bad thing to be the underdog sometimes," said Jodie Meeks, who scored nine of his 13 points in the fourth quarter. "No expectations. We go out there and play hard. Whats the worst that can happen? We lose, and people say were no good?" The Lakers 41-point fourth quarter was downright stunning, but the identities of the players responsible for this exciting, free-flowing opener were even more jaw-dropping. "Mike (DAntoni) did a great thing: He didnt bring his starters back in," Rivers said. "There was a point where I was thinking: Please bring them back in." A team that was 28th in the NBA in reserve scoring last season got outstanding bench play from a five-man unit, including three guys who werent even on the team last season: Wesley Johnson, two-time NBA champion Farmar, and Henry, the former first-round pick who burned out in Memphis and New Orleans. A new season is a chance for a fresh start, and Henry needs one just as much as the Lakers. He scored 12 points in the fourth quarter while leading a 28-8 run. "Were a deep team, and people dont think were that good," Henry said. "That always fuels us. People are saying were going to finish 12th or whatever, but we have a great group of guys who go out there and play hard. Were young. Were athletic. We get after it." The long-established hoops hierarchy in Los Angeles flipped earlier this year: The Clippers won a division title and became veteran championship contenders, while the Lakers lost their stars to injury or free agency and prepared for a long rebuilding process. At least in the opener, the Lakers flipped it again -- and embarrassed Rivers in the process. "We were not ready tonight," said Rivers, the longtime Celtics coach who hopes to push the Clippers into title contention. "(The Lakers) have heard for probably the last two months how good (the Clippers) were going to be ... so you knew that they were going to play like this was the world championship -- with that type of energy. And I thought we never matched it. Everything they did was harder than us and more physical than us. They destroyed us on the glass and destroyed us in turnovers. So it was a good lesson for us." Griffin scored 19 points and Paul had 15 points and 11 assists for the Clippers, who beat the Lakers four times last season on the way to their first Pacific Division title. DeAndre Jordan added 17 points and 11 rebounds. "Youve got to give it to them. They outplayed us," Griffin said. "They did a good job. They were ready. They turned up the heat in the fourth quarter, and we didnt respond." Gasol scored 11 of his 15 points in the first quarter, and Jordan Hill added 12 points and eight rebounds as the Lakers improved to 42-24 on opening night, the best winning percentage in NBA history. After the off-season losses of Dwight Howard and Metta World Peace, not much is expected from the Lakers. Yet they thrived for a night without Bryant, who missed a season opener for the first time since 2006. The fourth-leading scorer in NBA history hasnt returned to practice this fall after tearing his Achilles tendon late last season. The Clippers led 57-55 at halftime while hitting nearly 59 per cent of their shots. They pushed their lead to eight points in the third quarter, but the Lakers went ahead 86-83 with 9:06 to play on Meeks three-point play. "Oh, man, it seemed like it just happened so fast," Paul said. "Those guys executed their game plan, and when youre missing somebody like Kobe, you feed off that energy." NOTES: The evening began with a moment of silence for Bill Sharman, who died last week at 87. He coached the 1971-72 Lakers to their first championship in Los Angeles, winning an NBA-record 33 consecutive games along the way. ... The Clippers won their final seven games of the regular season last spring. ... Floyd Mayweather Jr., Diddy, Yasiel Puig, Tommy Lasorda and Flea attended the game. http://www.cheapnfljerseyschinastore.us.com/ . The Jets are 1-2-1 against Nashville this year despite outscoring the Predators 11-10. Blake Wheeler and Olli Jokinen lead Winnipeg with four points, while Craig Smith has four for the Predators. cheapnfljerseyschinastore.us.com . Patrick Deslisle-Houde and David Rose each scored in the second to give the fourth-seeded Redmen a 3-1 lead after Jean-Philippe Mathieu scored in the first.NEW ORLEANS -- Andre Drummond grabbed everything in sight, even that MVP trophy that came apart. Drummond had 30 points and a Rising Stars Challenge-record 25 rebounds, leading Team Hill to a 142-136 victory over Team Webber on Friday night. Coach Nate McMillan said general manager Grant Hill talked to his team before the game about performing like Denvers Kenneth Faried, who had 40 points and 10 rebounds while winning MVP honours last year. The message got through to Drummond, who grabbed 14 offensive rebounds. "Drummond had in his mind that he was going to go out and play the game hard," said McMillan, an assistant to Indiana coach Frank Vogel. "Every rebound that came off the board, he wanted. A few of them he took from his teammates, but I liked his aggressiveness." Besides an impressive tally of dunks and rebounds, Drummond even managed to make his free throws. A 41 per cent shooter during the regular season, the Detroit forward went 6 for 8, including a pair with 29 seconds left after chasing down Bradley Beals missed free throw to give his team a five-point lead. He eventually got to hoist the MVP trophy, though not before it fell to the court when a representative from game sponsor BBVA tried to hand it to him. It comes in two pieces, a star on top of the base, and the presenter was apparently unaware when he grabbed it by the top. "It happened last year, too, so I wasnt expecting anything less," Drummond said. "Usually a slip-up happens every year with the trophy. So I wasnt too shocked about that." Clevelands Dion Waiters had 31 points, mostly coming during a 1-on-1 duel with New Yorks Tim Hardaway Jr. in the second half. Beal finished with 21 for Team Hill, picked by former NBA star Hill. Hardaway scored 36 points and made seven 3-pointers for fellow former Michigan star Chris Webbers squad. Philadelphia rookie Michael Carter-Williamms had 17 points, nine assists and six rebounds. cheapnfljerseyschinastore. Portlands Damian Lillard had 13 points, five rebounds and five assists in the victory, making him 1 for 1 during the busiest All-Star weekend ever. Last seasons NBA Rookie of the Year will take part in five events, three more on All-Star Saturday and the All-Star game on Sunday. All-Stars such as Kevin Durant, Dwight Howard and Kyrie Irving watched the game, with Irving leaping to his feet at one point after watching Waiters, his Cavaliers teammate, try to take over the game with about 8 minutes to play. Waiters had two baskets and then two 3-pointers, one of them when he stepped back after faking a move to the basket that made Hardaway lose his balance. Hardaway answered back with two 3-pointers of his own as the crowd roared. "We were just trying to do a great job of just getting the fans involved," Hardaway said. "It was kind of dead in there and we just wanted to just start something, a little 1-on-1 battle here and there, and it was great." Waiters then clinched the duel when he knocked the ball free for a rare defensive highlight in the game, nailing his second straight 3-pointer to give team Hill the lead for good at 126-124 with 2:44 left. Drummond followed with a dunk for a four-point advantage, and Team Webber could never catch up. The game that began as a matchup of top rookies and later turned into rookies against second-year players now mixes the rosters. Thats probably a good thing, since this years crop of kids is so underwhelming. Only two of the top 10 picks in the 2013 draft, which has been hindered by injuries, were invited to this game, No. 2 Oladipo and No. 9 Trey Burke. Players were picked to play on Team Hill and Team Webber, which they wore under their numbers on the back of their jerseys. Drummond 16 points and 10 rebounds in his first 10 minutes and shot 12 of 21 for the game. wholesale jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '