Clippers crank up the energy, blow past Blazers in season opener – Daily News

LOS ANGELES — Kawhi Leonard and Paul George took the court together in a season opener for the first time in three years on Wednesday night. The last time the superstar duo was fully healthy at the start of the season was 2020, a long time and many injuries ago.

It was a sight Coach Tyronn Lue had been waiting to see. And he liked what he saw.

Leonard and George – in the lineup together for just 38 games last season, when both were derailed by injuries – took charge of the game from the start and with help from Russell Westbrook, Bones Hyland and Ivica Zubac, they ran over the Portland Trail Blazers, 123-111, at Crypto.com Arena.

“I know it’s a long season but having Kawhi and PG both in the starting lineup, being able to play tonight with no restrictions, it’s good to see,” Lue said before tipoff. “I’m happy for PG and Kawhi as well. Just all the hard work we had to put in to get to this point.”

The Blazers were starting their own revised era – their first season without perennial All-Star Damian Lillard, who demanded a trade and eventually landed with the Milwaukee Bucks. The young players, including highly touted rookie Scoot Henderson, were no match for George, Leonard and Westbrook once they got moving.

“We want to be a team that plays hard for 48 minutes,” Lue said. “We don’t want to ease into the games. We want to have a defensive approach every single night, and that’s who we want to be.”

Lue said he thought their offense would take time to gel as they get to know each other. That might have accounted for the 17 turnovers against Portland, which struggled to control its own mistakes (17 turnovers) against the Clippers’ focused defense.

Scoring, however, wasn’t a problem for the Clippers. George led all scorers with 27 points on 11-of-17 shooting, while Leonard added 23 points – hitting all five of his 3-point attempts – and Zubac finished with 20 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots as the Clippers never trailed.

Westbrook also had a double-double with 11 points and 13 assists, the most by a Clippers player in a season opener since Andre Miller in 2002, as the Clippers finished with 36 assists on their 47 field goals.

Hyland finished with 17 points.

Malcolm Brogdon, who was headed to the Clippers in a three-team trade before it fell apart, led the Blazers with 20 points. Anfernee Simons added 18 points and Deandre Ayton added four points and 12 rebounds. Henderson finished with 11 points, four assists and four turnovers in 36 minutes in his debut.

The biggest blemish on the high-energy night was the absence of Terance Mann. Mann, sporting a knee-high walking boot on his sprained left ankle, was forced to watch the season opener sitting down, missing his initial start at power forward.

Robert Covington filled in for Mann and capped the first half by blocking a shot by Jabari Walker. Covington had five points in his first start in two years.