Jazz notes: Clippers on the rise, but 'it's still the Lakers' town'

Los Angeles • Richard Jefferson "grew up loving Showtime."

So while the expectations are down for the Lakers this season, the L.A.-born Utah Jazz forward said he doesn't think this city's script has completely flipped.

"It's still the Lakers' town," he said. "The Clippers are a quality, quality team. But just because they're projected to have a better season and projected to contend for a championship … it doesn't take away from the 50 years of history. It doesn't take away the 12 MVPs they had. It doesn't take away however many championships and Hall of Famers."

"There were years when if they didn't win a championship it was a bad season," Jefferson continued. "Until that type of pressure is on the Clippers, it's still going to be [the Lakers'] town."

After playing the Lakers at Staples Center on Tuesday, the Jazz turned around and played the Clippers in the same building Wednesday night. The Clippers caused a stir earlier this week by covering up the Lakers' championship banners when the Clippers played games in their shared home.

"I don't think it's a problem," Jefferson said. "I think it's a fair, fair thing for the Clippers to do, 100 percent. I don't think it's disrespect in anyway. Look, if the Clippers win a championship and the Lakers want to cover that up, then so be it."

In the end though, it matters little to the Jazz.

"When we're playing these games," Jefferson said, "we don't look up."

No date set

Injured forward Marvin Williams says his surgically repaired Achilles is feeling better.

But there's still no set date for his return.

"I would circle today if I could," Williams said after shootaround Wednesday morning. "We haven't looked at that. The trainers have been great. They're taking it slow. Everybody's being really cautious."

Finals thought

The NBA Board of Governors on Wednesday unanimously approved a changed to the Finals format.

Instead of the 2-3-2 setup the league has used over the past 29 seasons, the Finals will shift to a 2-2-1-1-1- format beginning in 2014. The team with home-court advantage will host games 1, 2, 5 and 7.

afalk@sltrib.com