LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Clippers kicked off their regular season against the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night with a big win led by Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and Ivica Zubac.
The Clippers defeated Blazers 123-111 in a game that was not as close as the final score would indicate. Leonard put up 23 points, five rebounds, and six assists. Zubac double-doubled with 20 points, 14 rebounds, and a pair of blocked shots. Russell Westbrook finished the game with 11 points, five rebounds, and a game-high 13 assists. Bones Hyland added 17 points and three dimes off the Clipper's bench, which didn't get much scoring outside of the third-year guard.
But it was Paul George who scored a game-high 27 points in the contest to go along with six assists and three steals to lead the way for the Clippers. Los Angeles led Portland by 20 at halftime and led by as many as 30 points late in the second half.
Paul George leads the way
George, who scored 12 of his 27 points in the second quarter, says he was happy with the way the team came out in the home opener.
“I just thought we played with pace,” Paul George said after the win. “We played with energy and I thought just our intensity was there, which allowed us to get opportunities to attack the basket. Offensively, we didn't really walk through stuff. Everything was hard. Fast cuts, quick movements, and quick reads I thought for the majority of the game, which if we play like that, we're going to be tough to beat.”
Clippers Dunk Fest
The Clippers also finished with 36 assists on 47 made shots while knocking down 16 three-pointers. Both of those marked franchise records for a season opener. In addition to those, the Clippers had 15 dunks in the game. Russell Westbrook tied his career high for dunks in a game with four, while Paul George and Ivica Zubac had three dunks apiece.
“I think it's just execution,” Kawhi Leonard said of the explosive dunks on display. “Some of those plays we were just reading the game. If they're denying us, we're going back door and we rep it out at practice. So you got to give credit to the coaches and TLu and ourselves just being focused in the game and able to read those plays and execute. So it just based on how they played the defense tonight and we were able to, like I said, read and react.”
The defense steps up
Through three quarters, the Clippers held the Blazers to just 73 poits, 43.3 percent shooting from the field, 25 percent shooting from three, and forced 14 turnovers.
“Just playing hard, competing, like I said, having a defensive mindset,” head coach Tyronn Lue added. “Being physical, getting into the ball, getting the bodies Zu, protecting the rim and that's what we got to be every night. Once you get up 26, 30, then things kind of change. So we got to have the mindset to just — and I thought our starters, they cut the lead, we got 'em back in, took it to 26 and then brought our reserves in. But for the most part, I thought our stars did a great job of just setting the tone on the defensive end and that's how they got to be every night.”
What's next for Clippers?
Terance Mann, who suffered a sprained left ankle contesting a shot during Monday's practice, will not travel to Utah and will not play in that game on Friday night. Mann was named the fifth starter alongside Russell Westbrook, Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, and Ivica Zubac last Friday, but the injury had him in a walking boot Wednesday.
Robert Covington started in Mann's place for the opener, finishing with five points, four rebounds, two assists, three steals, and a block in 23 minutes. That starting unit with Covington was a +25 in the 20 minutes they played together.
The expectation is that Covington will start until Mann is healthy enough to play and reclaim that spot as the team's shooting guard/power forward.
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