This is going to sound like a giant overreaction, and perhaps it is, but after one regular season game it sure feels like the Lakers are a discernible notch below the Clippers, who won the Battle of Los Angeles opener 112-102 on Tuesday.

It's not a knock on the Lakers. The Clippers look like the monster we all expected them to be. Kawhi Leonard picked up right where he left off in last year's playoffs with 30 points, six rebounds and five assists. Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell are arguably the best pick-and-roll combination in the league (they certainly looked like that on Tuesday), and they come off the bench. Paul George didn't even play.

Meanwhile, the Lakers weren't just playing guys like Quinn Cook, Jared Dudley, Dwight Howard and Troy Daniels -- they were flat out depending on them to create offense, a few of them in crucial late-game minutes. Yes, Kyle Kuzma will help space the floor when he gets back, and Rondo is at least a rotation guy. Still, those guys aren't exactly championship day-savers coming to the rescue. We all know LeBron James and Anthony Davis are great, but how far on are you going with the other three guys on the court being the likes of those just mentioned?

Again, a lot of this has to do with the Clippers' defense, which is going to get even better when George joins the cause, but the Lakers just had a hard time creating space, and that includes Davis and LeBron. Davis finished with 25 points, 10 boards and five assists, but it took him 21 shots. It was a hard night at the office. He had to try to bully his way to points in the post. He had to hit contested face-up jumpers. He had to will his way to the free-throw line 14 times.

Yes, these are all signs of a great player, when he can muscle through an elite defense and tough shooting night to still put up elite, if somewhat inefficient, numbers. But the idea behind these Lakers being a championship contender is LeBron and Davis dominating their opponents to the point that a subpar supporting cast becomes moot. They're supposed to be not just a reliable pick-and-roll tandem, but an unstoppable one, even with questionable shooters flanking them. They're supposed to punish switches like they're taking candy from a baby.

And let's be clear: LeBron and Davis will do these things against a lot of teams in the league, if not most of them. But at first glance, the Clippers appear to be a bit out of their league. Too deep. Too talented. Too tough. On Tuesday, LeBron scored 18 points on 19 shots, and while we know that's not an accurate representation of the impact LeBron will bring when it really counts in the playoffs, the 28 points Danny Green posted on 10-of-14 shooting, including 7 of 9 from three, is its own kind of aberration.

The bottom line is while the Lakers, for all of LeBron and Davis' greatness, are going to ultimately find themselves depending pretty heavily on guys like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (zero points, 28 minutes), Avery Bradley, Green, Cook, JaVale McGee and Howard, the Clippers are, again, bringing Sweet Lou and Harrell off the bench for crying out loud. Those guys would be All-Stars in the East. They combined for 38 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists on Tuesday. The Lakers' entire bench scored 19 points. It's just hard to match that kind firepower backing up Kawhi and George, who are, in their own right, every bit as great as LeBron and Davis.

So again, maybe this is an overreaction. Maybe Kuzma's eventual return will be more impactful than I'm thinking it will be. But right now it feels pretty clear, even after one game, that the Lakers are going to be really, really good for two very obvious reasons, but the Clippers are already great. And Paul George hasn't even suited up yet.