Even for an exhibition, it felt like there was a lack of energy for both teams on a night that saw the Clippers lose their preseason opener to the Los Angeles Lakers, 87-81. The Lakers were without star duo LeBron James and Anthony Davis, along with veteran forward Markieff Morris, starting wing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and new signee Marc Gasol. The Clippers, for their part, were only without starting power forward Markieff Morris and rookie wing Jayden Scrubb, but essentially punted on the second half as they gave heavy minutes to prospects and camp invitees. It was a standard pre-season game, which means it was more about the young guys than the veterans.
There will surely be some noise about the Clippers losing a game in which Paul George and Kawhi Leonard both played while James and Davis did not, but the truth is that neither team approached the game with much intensity. The Clippers’ starters didn’t play in the second half, with youngsters Terance Mann and Mfiondu Kabengele leading the way in minutes and surrounded by a medley of third stringers and camp invitees. The Lakers also gave plenty of burn to their young and fringe players, but relied a bit more on established rotation pieces in the second half, as Kyle Kuzma finished with 38 minutes and former Clipper Montrezl Harrell played 31. Only 9 Lakers played tonight compared to 18 Clippers.
So, taking tonight’s results with more than a grain of salt, here are some quick takeaways from the first action of the Clippers’ 2020-21 season:
- Starting Lineup: The Clippers started Nicolas Batum in place of the absent Marcus Morris tonight, and had Serge Ibaka starting over Ivica Zubac at center. While Batum’s inclusion was clearly just filling in for Morris, Ty Lue said after the game that right now the team views Ibaka as the starting center going into the season. That’s a bit of a surprise, as Zubac has been a full-time starter for the Clippers since coming to the team at the 2019 deadline, but as long as the minutes split is relatively even it might make sense to have Zu bolster a second unit that will be weaker defensively and on the glass.
- Jim Jackson: The Clippers apparently replaced former color commentator Chauncey Billups, who moved from the booth to the bench for an assistant coach position this off-season, without telling anyone, as veteran college basketball broadcaster Jim Jackson was in the booth tonight alongside mainstay play-by-play man Brian Sieman. The two had some fun banter on a really unexciting night of basketball, so while it’s early days and we don’t know how many games Jackson will get this season in rotation with Corey Maggette, I’m liking the addition so far.
- Bad Reggie Jackson: In a rare candid moment last playoffs, Doc Rivers discussed the difference between “good” and “bad” Reggie, and tonight we certainly got the bad. He was out of control and rushed bad decisions all night long, and ended with 2 turnovers and 1-6 shooting in his 12 minutes. Part of that performance was going 0-3 from deep–spacing the floor with shooting well above his career numbers was one of his few redeeming qualities last season, so while it’s too early to tell it would be a bad sign if he regresses from beyond the arc.
- NiCardio Batum: Thus nicknamed by 213Hoops editor Robert Flom, Batum’s primary objective on the floor tonight seemed to be getting a good jog in–he ran up and down, but didn’t do much on either end of the floor once he got there besides turn around and job back the other way. Honestly, it’s a median outcome for him and perfectly acceptable for a minimum-salary guy: if he avoids egregious mistakes, makes simple reads offensively, and executes his coverages defensively, he’ll be just fine as a role player without needing to make a more significant offensive impact.
- Debuts: Serge Ibaka and Luke Kennard were the two most anticipated Clippers to make their debuts tonight. Ibaka played just 8 minutes, but hit a couple of early threes and blocked a Montrezl Harrell shot, making a nice introduction for himself. Kennard got 17 minutes off of the bench, some in weird lineups that won’t resemble his actual rotation minutes, but showed some good flashes for a player who hasn’t been on the court in almost a calendar year (his last regular-season game was December 21st, 2019).
- Terance Mann: If anyone outside of the Clippers’ anticipated rotation looked like an NBA player tonight, it was Mann. While his stat line doesn’t jump off the page (6 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block in 22 minutes), his play was impressive. He was composed and patient on the ball offensively, often in some very questionable lineups, making smart moves to the rim and elevating to create clean looks for himself in the paint. Defensively, his size, length, and activity give him a lot of utility. We saw Mann thrive in some non-meaningful minutes last season, most notably in the team’s finale against Oklahoma City where he battled the Thunder’s third string, so the next step for him is to prove himself in actual rotation minutes. Last year, he was often a bit timid when the defense was locked in, and he needs to prove he can make shots as a floor-spacer when he’s playing in a lineup with stronger players and doesn’t have the ball in his hands.
- Mfiondu Kabengele and Daniel Oturu: The fight to determine which prospect will be the Clippers’ emergency center is too early to call after one pre-season game. Each player had some moments but showed warts as well. Kabengele had a couple of nice blocks and hit a corner three, but shot just 1-5 from beyond the arc and was routinely outmuscled under the rim, finishing with 6 fouls in 20 minutes. Oturu was 3-3 with 6 points and 2 rebounds in his 15 minutes, showing some nice initiative to run the floor and secure good post position. However, he also had 4 turnovers in that time, and was spared from having to do much defensively as Kabengele took on the Montrezl Harrell assignment and left Oturu to clash with the Lakers’ third-string bigs.
Right now, if the question is which looks more capable of giving you 12 passable regular season minutes as a backup on nights when either Ibaka or Zubac are out, I’d say that Oturu looks to be ahead. But neither really looks like a rotation player, with Fi in particular feeling a bit lost on the court, seemingly always a step slow or slightly off-balance.
- The Camp Guys: It doesn’t really seem like any of these guys will make the team, since the Clippers have 14 guaranteed contracts and no space under the NBA’s hard cap to add a 15th, but Ky Bowman, Jordan Ford, Rayjon Tucker, and Malik Fitts all got some burn tonight. While I expect none to make the opening night roster, impressing the team in training camp could lead to opportunities down the line if the Clippers need to temporarily fill that 15th spot for emergency depth, end up having space to add someone to a rest-of-season deal, or have an opening on a two-way deal.
Bowman was the most impressive of the group, adding 6 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and a block in 12 minutes. He was one of the steadier reserve players, avoiding a turnover and contributing positively defensively. Ford made 2 of his 3 shots to finish with 4 points in 5 minutes, but he’s less of a well-rounded player and his offensive abilities (which made him one of the nation’s leading scorers at Saint Mary’s last year) might not hold up against rotation defenses in the NBA. Rayjon Tucker is certainly extremely athletic and brings a positive defensive focus, but he was a train wreck offensively, forcing a number of ugly misses and poor decisions to finish 0-5 in his 10 minutes. It would have been nice to see those possessions utilized better. Lastly, Malik Fitts only got a few minutes to close out the night after Kabengele had fouled out–not enough to really evaluate him on. We’ll see if he gets his turn in a future pre-season game, especially if more veteran forwards ahead of him rotate rest.
- Next Up: The Clippers play the Lakers again on Sunday night before finishing their pre-season on Thursday the 17th against the Utah Jazz. Then, we’ll be right back at STAPLES against the Lakers again for the third time in as many weeks to open the regular season on December 22nd.
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