After a promising two-game road trip, the Los Angeles Clippers return to their new arena to face the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday at Inglewood, Calif.
The Clippers lost to the Phoenix Suns, 116-113, in overtime in the first game in their new $2 billion home, the Intuit Dome. They hit the road three days later and earned wins over the Denver Nuggets and Golden State Warriors to rebound from the season-opening loss.
Those victories came without star Kawhi Leonard, who is out indefinitely with ongoing knee issues, while Paul George departed in free agency and joined the Philadelphia 76ers. With 35-year-old James Harden running the show, Los Angeles has found new go-to scorers.
Harden led the Clippers in scoring during the season opener, but Norman Powell had a team-high 37 points against the Nuggets and Ivica Zubac scored 23 points to go along with 18 rebounds against the Warriors.
Zubac has taken a step forward early on this season with 22.7 points per game, nearly double his previous career best of 11.7 that he set in 2023-24. His 14.0 rebounds per game are a career high as well and lead the NBA ahead of Tuesday’s games.
“I am always confident in my offensive game and always knew I could score in the post,” Zubac said. “It’s just, you know, in past years there were not a lot of chances. … I just had to play my role, and this year is going to be a bigger role offensively. I feel like I’ve been ready for it for a while and I’m excited.”
The Trail Blazers have lost three of their first four games this season but have shown some growth in the process. After giving up 140 points at home to the Warriors to open the campaign, Portland has shored things up defensively and has allowed just 106.3 points per game in the past three contests.
The Blazers’ issues largely stem from shooting. Portland ranked 25th in the NBA in overall shooting percentage at 42.2 percent and 27th in 3-point shooting percentage at 30.5 percent ahead of Tuesday’s games.
After picking up their first victory, a 125-103 decision against the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday, the Trail Blazers hit the road for the first time this season on Monday and fell 111-98 to the Sacramento Kings.
Deandre Ayton led the way with 20 points and 11 rebounds in the loss, his fourth consecutive double-double. Ayton is averaging 14.3 points and 12.3 rebounds to start the season and could pose a challenge for Zubac on Wednesday.
“(Sunday) was just missed shots,” Ayton said. “I think we played to the standards and more of what we were supposed to do. We accepted the challenge that the coaches gave us. I’m not mad at all. I’m happy with it, to be honest. I want to carry this momentum, this physicality and how locked (in) we are over to the next game in L.A.”
The last Portland player to post a double-double in their first four games of a season was the late Bill Walton, who did so in his first six games of the 1977-78 campaign.
–Field Level Media