INGLEWOOD — With five rotation players out and a slew of youngsters and new faces to fill the void, early-season expectations for the Clippers are muted.
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Coach Tyronn Lue knows the challenges that lie ahead and he didn’t sugar-coat the outlook for the season that tipped off against the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night at Intuit Dome.
“Win as many games as we can,” Lue said when asked what would constitute a successful season.
The Clippers got win No. 1 with a 121-96 victory over the Kings, a scrappy team predicted by many to finish behind the Clippers in the Western Conference standings.
“Our goals don’t change,” Lue said. “… we’re putting the work in, we are going to be prepared every night offensively and defensively and we got to execute the game plan.”
That game plan, for now, will not include Brandon Ingram (heel, Achilles), Max Strus (foot), Jordan Miller (shoulder), Yanic Konan Niederhauser (foot) and Bradley Beal (knee), who are making progress but won’t be available for the foreseeable future.
None of them will make the trip for Sunday’s road game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Instead, Lue leaned on point guard Darius Garland, two veterans and rookie guard Keaton Wagler to get this season moving in the right direction.
Garland led the Clippers with 30 points and four assists in 32 minutes. Isaiah Jackson, making his first start for the Clippers at center, chipped in 13 points and five rebounds, while Wagler made the most of his NBA debut with 15 points, five rebounds and five assists in 29 minutes.
Veteran center Brook Lopez posted 17 points and a team-high 10 rebounds off the bench to kickstart his 18th season in the league.
Gradey Dick shot 3 for 4 from the field and 5 for 6 from the free-throw line and finished with 12 points in his Clippers debut. He came to the team, along with Ingram, in the trade that sent seven-time All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard to Toronto.
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Lue had said his team cannot “ease” into games if they hope to avoid last season’s abysmal 6-21 start. Garland took that advice to heart and connected on three 3-point shots in the opening two-plus minutes to give the Clippers a 14-6 lead.
“The margin for error is slim, so we got to attack the game from jump ball,” Lue said. “We got to have the aggressiveness, the willingness to play with pace offensively, share the basketball and play the right way.”
The Clippers led by as much as 18 points in the first half, but they were clinging to a 61-54 lead at halftime.
The Kings couldn’t keep up the pace after intermission and quickly fell behind by double digits again, trailing by 18 after baskets by key veterans Derrick Jones Jr. and Kris Dunn extended the Clippers’ lead to 85-67 with 2:39 left in the third quarter.
By the end of the period, the Clippers had stretched their lead to 93-70 and Lue turned the game over to the young players for a stretch in the fourth, along with Garland, before Rui Hachimura re-entered the game. Hachimura had a relatively quiet game, finishing with 10 points and eight rebounds.
The Clippers never trailed and their bench outscored the Kings’ reserves 53-34.
The Kings were led by Zach LaVine, who had 28 points on 10-of-19 shooting to go with four rebounds and three assists, while Domantas Sabonis finished with 14 points and a game-high 18 rebounds.
The Clippers are looking to move on from a tumultuous offseason that included an NBA investigation into salary cap rule violations, resulting in penalties that included the loss of five first-round draft picks, yearlong suspensions for team owner Steve Ballmer and President of Business Operations Gillian Zucker, a six-month suspension for President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank and $30 million in fines.
“We are going to stay confident and the only thing that matters is everyone in this organization and the 15 players that’s in that locker room. That’s all that matters,” Garland said.
The Clippers have the largest decrease in the NBA in average age between their current roster and the group that was active for last year’s season opener, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
That’s partly due to the team trading James Harden and Chris Paul last season and sending Leonard to Toronto.
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More to come on this story.