Matt Barnes had 19 points in rout of Lakers and also kept Kobe Bryant in check/Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Clippers, NBA.com

– The Clippers this season have let poor teams back into games many times, so just because the Lakers are another one of those teams doesn’t mean the Clippers shouldn’t get credit for keeping their foot on the gas in this one, eventually leading by 43 points before settling for the 25-point victory.

– The Lakers were missing two of their regulars – Wesley Johnson (hip injury) and Ronnie Price (broken  nose), so the blowout still has to be taken in that context. The Clippers beat a bad team missing two key players. That’s what good teams should do.

– Matt Barnes did a nice job holding Kobe Bryant in check. Bryant shot 0 of 4 in the first half and 2 of 12 overall to score just four points while often behind hounded by Barnes, who also happened to score 19 points on 6 of 12 shooting – 5 of 10 from 3-point range.

– The five starters – Chris Paul, J.J. Redick, Blake Griffin, Barnes and DeAndre Jordan – shot a combined 56.3 percent (31 of 55) from the field. It was only because the reserves shot a collective 30 percent (9 of 30) that the Clippers shot under 50 percent (47.1) overall.

– With all the good stuff that happened in this game – at least for the Clippers – will that translate into a victory Saturday over the Dallas Mavericks? Dallas (26-11) is a terrific team and the Clippers (24-12) have a losing record against such teams. Dallas is in a virtual tie with Memphis for third in the Western Conference standings, the Clippers are in sixth, a half-game behind fifth-place Houston.