The LA Clippers stayed undefeated in Seattle, defeating the Portland Trail Blazers, 102-97, Monday night. Marcus Morris Sr., Terance Mann, Jason Preston and (eventually) Luke Kennard were unavailable for LAC tonight, opening up even more room for certain guys to showcase their current statuses. Although the game was heavily skewed towards the Clippers when both sides’ starters were in, Portland did stage a comeback once most of LA’s main names got the night off either at halftime or by the end of the third. With the game’s final result up in the air for either team’s young guns to go out and secure in the closing minutes, Amir Coffey and Moussa Diabaté led the way to bring home the “W.” Read on for our full Clippers-Trail Blazers preseason game recap.
Clippers vs. Trail Blazers Game Notes
- KL2 Takeoff: With 11 points (3-8 FG, 1-1 3PT, 4-4 FT), four rebounds, two assists and two steals, Kawhi showed just about everything that the Clipper-faithful could ask for in his return. In 16 first-half minutes, Leonard used his strong frame that’s been wowing social media audiences, as well as the high IQ that he’s displayed since he first suited up for LAC, to quickly establish his presence out there. Especially sans Gary Payton II, the Blazers’ tiny starting backcourt was terrorized by both Kawhi and Paul George, with Reggie Jackson and Nicolas Batum setting them up with mismatches perfectly via on-ball screens. Kawhi’s jumper and footwork looked great as usual, but what really stood out was him showing zero hesitation whatsoever to either make a quick cut inside off the ball or drive hard to the rim to set up looks for others. Welcome back, Kawhi!
Some of the best plays from Kawhi Leonard's first game back in 476 days
— NBA (@NBA) October 4, 2022pic.twitter.com/Z3teHi2EmW
- Wall (Finding His) Way: John Wall looked about as advertised, consistently setting guys up for quality looks with his instincts and natural ability to penetrate the paint. It is a shame that he only collected three assists, but that’s the nature of the game. Wall certainly didn’t put up enough shots to catch the attention of NBA highlight YouTube channels, but had a good mix of facilitating and scoring aggression. Fittingly enough, considering the amount of work he seemingly put into his 3-point shooting this summer, Wall’s first bucket in a LAC jersey was a “FU” 2-for-1 triple from deep a few moments after he didn’t get the call on a drive. It’s definitely going to be interesting to see him on the floor more with the 213-duo when he starts the next game.
The first of many.
— NBA (@NBA) October 4, 2022
John Wall opens his account with the @LAClippers!pic.twitter.com/xC9VHv4ujC
- The Boys Are Back: Of course, tonight also gave us the first looks at PG, Ivica Zubac, Batum, Jackson and Norman Powell. Paul George was easily the sharpest player on the floor tonight, knocking down some loud shots from deep and in the mid-post, as well as hitting wide-open teammates when prompted. Perhaps the best sign of his current status was his seven boards in that 16-minute span. George’s chemistry with Zubac did not miss a beat at all, with both connecting to shut down several Jerami Grant drives with ease. It appears the ankle issue concerns for Zubac were put to rest tonight for the most part, as he looked just fine on both ends. Nicolas Batum looked like the same guy who, rightfully, has had a battalion of fans in his corner in recent years. The man just knows where to be at all times on both ends of the floor and certainly gave Dame fits while he was matched up on him to start the game. It was a lukewarm shooting night for Reggie Jackson (2-7 FG, 2-5 3PT, 1-2 FT) and a classic preseason stinker for Norm Powell (1-11 FG, 0-5 3PT, 1-1 FT). There’s no real concern for either guy from tonight as they each took a lot of shots that they usually do, but simply didn’t get the results we’re used to seeing.
- Tinkering Ty: Throwing out a Jackson-Wall combo for most of the second quarter, as well as uber-small lineups whenever Jusuf Nurkić sat, Tyronn Lue did not hold back in what appears to be just the start of what should be a fun year for him. Unfortunately, considering the number of guys that did sit out tonight, there still wasn’t much to take away from tonight in terms of where the Clipper braintrust’s thinking is right now in terms of rotations, but it’s clear LAC has plenty of options to experiment with right now.
- Coffey on the Come Up: With Mann, Mook and Luke out, Coffey got some extra run in the second half against the Trail Blazers’ young’uns and did not disappoint once again. As showcased time and time again throughout last season, Amir Coffey could truly help out a ton of teams right now. With the added weight he’s put on this offseason, it seems he’s able to play even more at his own pace with the ball in his hands. It again makes you wonder how the Clips managed to get him to agree on the deal that he signed this summer as he’s just a fun player to watch.
- C3 Watch: Early on, neither Moses Brown or Moussa Diabaté had a game to look back on, but that quickly changed once the competition level evened out towards the end. As alluded to by the guys on 213Hoops podcast network, Brown does seem like an odd fit to be the Clippers’ regular season emergency big considering he’s still super raw on both ends. Admittedly, this is still preseason and a tiny sample size, but Moses’ early returns in the league defensively have also suggested that someone like a Hassan Whiteside would perhaps address the team’s needs much better. Meanwhile, Moussa Diabaté simply came alive to close this one. The rook brought the energy once again on both ends, vacuuming rebounds and switching 1-5 repeatedly. Diabaté’s passing especially stood out in this one as he found Coffey wide open on the arc several times. Of course, perhaps the stuff we don’t see in training camp and practice could weigh quite a bit into this, but judging just by this game, it appears Diabaté has put some distance between himself and Moses.
Up Next: The Clippers will continue their four-game preseason ramp-up back at the crib against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Crypto.com Arena on Sunday, Oct. 9, at 7:30 p.m. PT.
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