Unable to get settled into their new home, the Los Angeles Clippers will try to ramp up the inhospitable vibe when they face the San Antonio Spurs on Monday at Inglewood, Calif.
The Clippers opened a new $2 billion arena this season that even opposing players have praised. But maybe what the visiting teams have liked most is that they have won all of their games.
The Clippers dropped to 0-4 in their new building with a 105-92 defeat to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday when their typical second-half doldrums continued. Los Angeles led 57-53 at halftime, then was held to 30 percent shooting (12 of 40) from the floor in the second half.
The Clippers have held a second-half lead in all four of their home games so far and a double-digit lead after halftime in three of those contests.
“(It’s) nasty right now,” the Clippers’ Norman Powell said of the mood in the locker room. “We just gotta figure it out, man. I mean, I think, you know, we’re playing a good 28, 32 minutes of basketball. But, we gotta stay with it.”
Powell led the Clippers with 24 points on Saturday and has paced the team with 25.2 points per game to emerge as the team’s new go-to scorer. Los Angeles is trying to find its way without Kawhi Leonard, who is out indefinitely with a knee injury, while Paul George departed in free agency.
“We did some really good things throughout the course of the game and it’s something to hang our hat on,” Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue said. “We’ve gotta continue to keep getting better offensively. We gotta be confident in the shots that we’re getting, that we’re turning down, and then just making the right, simple play.”
The Spurs will enter off an impressive 113-103 home victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday, in a game head coach Gregg Popovich missed with an illness. Assistant coach Mitch Johnson guided the team from the bench.
Keldon Johnson scored 25 points, Jeremy Sochan scored 19 points with 10 rebounds and Victor Wembanyama scored 17 points. Veteran point guard Chris Paul led the show with 15 points and 13 assists.
The 39-year-old Paul is the second-oldest player to record double-digit assists in back-to-back games after John Stockton pulled off the feat at age 41.
“Mitch did a great job,” Paul said, according to the San Antonio Express News. “Things happen within this league all the time and just like with players, it’s next man up. So, shout out to Mitch.”
Wembanyama leads the Spurs with 18.0 points and 9.8 rebounds per game, while Sochan is scoring 17.3 points with 8.5 rebounds. Paul has averaged 8.7 assists in his 20th NBA season.
The Spurs will bring a two-game winning streak to Los Angeles, the first time they have won consecutive games this season.
A member of the Clippers for six seasons, through the 2016-17 campaign, Paul admits he is curious to see the new home of his former team.
“I’m excited to see what it’s like to play in there,” Paul said.
