The Phoenix Suns liked their initial trip to the Los Angeles Clippers’ new $2 billion Intuit Dome so much that they are making a return visit Thursday night to Inglewood, Calif., barely over a week later.
The Suns and Clippers opened a new season and a new building, with Phoenix earning a 116-113 overtime victory on Oct. 23.
“Incredible,” the Suns’ Kevin Durant said about the Clippers’ new arena. “Absolutely loved it.”
Durant scored 25 points in the season-opening victory, while hitting a game-tying jump shot with 21.2 seconds remaining in regulation. Phoenix used an 11-0 fourth-quarter run to take the lead with 1:39 remaining, then watched Los Angeles’ James Harden miss a free throw late in overtime that would have tied the game again.
Bradley Beal scored 24 points in that victory, while Devin Booker had 15 as coach Mike Budenholzer won his Suns regular-season debut.
Two days after the victory over the Clippers, the Suns lost 123-116 on the road against the Los Angeles Lakers. But they avenged that defeat with a 109-105 home win over the Lakers on Monday and are now 3-1 for the season.
Booker scored a season-high 33 points in the second matchup against the Lakers, while Durant added 30 points and has averaged 29.0 points in four games. Jusuf Nurkic scored just two points on 1-of-6 shooting from the field in 15 minutes.
Phoenix, though, is most pleased with its defense after holding the Lakers to 14 points in the second quarter Monday and 22 in the fourth quarter as they rallied for the victory.
“We know what we’re capable of on the offensive end,” said Booker, who turned 28 on Wednesday. “We know how we need to show that is by getting a stop (on defense) and getting out in transition.”
The Clippers are now 0-2 in their new home after losing 106-105 to the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday. The Clippers continue to play without star Kawhi Leonard, who is out indefinitely with a chronic knee injury.
The Clippers also have delivered on the defensive end under the scheme of new assistant coach Jeff Van Gundy. Los Angeles has allowed an average of 107.5 points over its first four games, fifth best in the NBA.
Even in the Clippers’ loss Wednesday, the Blazers shot only 44.6 percent from the floor.
“On defense, we knew there would be an adjustment,” Clippers forward Nicolas Batum said. “(Van Gundy) put in a new system for us, and we work on it every day, but I didn’t know we would be so effective with it so early. … Until Kawhi comes back, we knew we needed to be a good defensive team.”
Norman Powell scored 30 points and James Harden added 19 points and 10 assists against the Blazers. The Clippers had their chances late in the game by holding the Blazers without a basket over their last three possessions.
But Los Angeles failed to score over its final four possessions, including two missed free throws from Ivica Zubac, who was held to six points on 2-of-7 shooting after he entered with an average of 22.7 points per game.
–Field Level Media