INGLEWOOD — The Clippers figured they had learned not to come out flat at the start of games. In their first two games this season, they found themselves staring at early deficits.
One game they fell flat on their faces. The next game, the Clippers were able to pull themselves out of a hole and ran away with a 27-point victory against the Phoenix Suns.
This time, they started well but flatlined in the second quarter before finding their pulse in the second half to pull out a 114-107 victory on Sunday against the Portland Trail Blazers at the Intuit Dome.
The Clippers (2-1) needed all of Kawhi Leonard’s 30 points, Ivica Zubac’s 21 points and eight rebounds, and James Harden’s 20 points and 13 assists to get by the Trail Blazers.
Call this a lesson learned as the team cannot afford too many slow starts, especially against young, quicker opponents such as the Trail Blazers.
The Trail Blazers, who play faster than most NBA teams, cranked up their game several notches and turned a double-digit deficit into a 12-point lead in the second quarter – a 23-point turnaround. They doused the Clippers’ energetic start and held off a clippers run to lead 60-55.
Portland’s ability to change the trajectory of the game was all part of their revamped identity, one that features speed, pressure and effort.
They forced the Clippers into 12 first-half turnovers and 24 for the game, something Lue warned the team about earlier in the day.
“All four of their guards pick up full court when they go small, all five guys pick up and create (a combined) 42 turnovers in the last two games for them … it just shows you the amount of pressure they put on teams,” Lue said. “So, we got to be ready for their pressure and to understand what we’re trying to do and how we want to execute.”
John Collins added 16 points and six rebounds, while Kris Dunn had nine points and Chris Paul buried two big 3-pointers in the final quarter to push the Clippers to a nine-point lead.
The Clippers got a scare in the fourth quarter when Leonard, who had intercepted a pass, was knocked to the floor by Jrue Holiday as he went up for a layup with 8:04 remaining. The two-time Finals MVP was slow to get up, but after a review of the play, he made two foul shots to give the Clippers a 98-88 lead.
Guard Bogdan Bogdanovic started in place of Bradley Beal, who tweaked his back against the Suns, and failed to make much of an impact. Lue said he expected Bogdanovic, who did not play in the first two games, to see a lot of the ball-handling responsibilities given the Trail Blazers’ starting lineup with Holiday guarding Harden and Toumani Camara on Leonard.
“Bogie can handle that pressure of bringing the basketball up and initiate the offense, so we’re going to need him to do a lot of that tonight for us,” Lue said.
The pressure of playing in his first game of the regular season proved a bit much for Bogdanovic and he was on the bench at the start of the second half with Dunn starting in his place.
Dunn’s defense helped get the Clippers back in the game and they regained the lead and stretched it to 87-82 heading into the final quarter.
The Trail Blazers are facing a different kind of pressure, the kind that has come with having your head coach arrested in an illegal gambling probe. Chauncey Billups, along with Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, are alleged to have participated in rigged poker games.
Billups, who has coached the Trail Blazers for three seasons, was indefinitely suspended by the NBA and was not at Intuit Dome on Sunday. Assistant coach Tiago Splitter currently is handling coaching duties and the outside noise.
“I tell them to stick to basketball,” Splitter said when asked what he has told the team. “We don’t want to talk about the outside (stuff). I know you want a quote, you want a quote from me, but we just want to play basketball.”
Portland was led by Deni Avdija’s 232 points. Holiday added 21 points, six rebounds and seven assists, while Shaedon Sharp added 19 points.
Scoot Henderson (hamstring) Damian Lillard (Achilles tendon) did not play.
