Struggling to settle into their new home, the Los Angeles Clippers hope to create a more inhospitable atmosphere when they face the San Antonio Spurs on Monday in Inglewood, Calif.
The Clippers’ new $2 billion arena has impressed even opposing players, who might enjoy it more because they’ve won every game there so far. The Clippers fell to 0-4 in their new building with a 105-92 defeat to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday. Los Angeles led 57-53 at halftime but managed just 30 percent shooting (12 of 40) in the second half.
The Clippers have held second-half leads in all four of their home games and double-digit leads after halftime in three of those contests.
Norman Powell led the Clippers with 24 points on Saturday and has emerged as the team’s new go-to scorer, averaging 25.2 points per game.
The Clippers are trying to find their way without Kawhi Leonard, who is out indefinitely with a knee injury, while Paul George left in free agency.
The Spurs enter Monday’s game off an impressive 113-103 home victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday, a game head coach Gregg Popovich missed due to illness. Assistant coach Mitch Johnson took charge.
Keldon Johnson scored 25 points, Jeremy Sochan added 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Victor Wembanyama chipped in 17 points. Veteran point guard Chris Paul led the way 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, following John Stockton who did it at age 41.
Wembanyama leads the Spurs with 18.0 points and 9.8 rebounds per game, while Sochan averages 17.3 points and 8.5 rebounds. Paul has averaged 8.7 assists in his 20th NBA season.
The Spurs are on a two-game winning streak, the first time they have won consecutive games this season.
