The Los Angeles Lakers will be facing the Los Angeles Clippers for a highly anticipated matchup on Christmas Day. However, Dwight Howard is trying to downplay just how much this game means.

The Lakers big man was one of the players asked about the the Christmas Day duel between the two Los Angeles sides. What Howard told Helene Elliott of the Los Angeles Times about the game makes plenty of sense:

“That’s for the fans. The championship is won in June. It’s not won on Christmas,” he said.

“This is not an ego test for us. We’re not trying to see who’s better right now. We want to make sure come playoff time that we’re the best team going into the playoffs and at the end of the playoffs, we’re the best team in the world. That’s our goal. That should be our mind-set. We can’t allow emotions to get in the way of what we’re trying to accomplish. I think we were super emotional during the first game and it showed. We can’t play with our emotions. We have to play with our will and our purpose. And if we do that, then we should win the game.”

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This is a good answer from Howard. While this is a fun game for both teams and the fans, it truly doesn't mean all that much in the grand scheme of things. What really matters is how these squads are performing come playoff time.

Still, the Lakers would surely like a little revenge for Christmas as they look to end a three-game losing streak. The Clippers came away with the victory when these two teams met to start the season, with Kawhi Leonard, Lou Williams, and Montrezl Harrell doing a lot of the heavy lifting. Paul George didn't play in that game, so he'll be looking to have a big night and will be tough to stop.

The Lakers are hoping LeBron James will be back in the lineup after he missed Sunday's loss to the Denver Nuggets. A Christmas Day matchup without LeBron would be a bummer.