Blazers brace for record-setting Clippers

The Los Angeles Clippers couldn’t have dreamed for a better lead-in to their clash with the host Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday night.

The Clippers sent statisticians scurrying through the record books in an emphatic opening leg of a back-to-back set on Wednesday, demolishing the Brooklyn Nets 126-67 in Inglewood, Calif.

Los Angeles’ 59-point margin of victory was the biggest by any team this season, and the greatest in Clippers history, surpassing the previous mark in a 50-point win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in April 2022.

After the score was tied at 21 at the end of the first quarter on Wednesday, Los Angeles outscored Brooklyn 37-14 and 44-16 across the middle two periods.

The verdict already was decided early in the third, allowing the home side the opportunity to seat its starters, all of whom played less than 24 minutes.

“We had to have a professional mindset coming out in that third quarter. And we did that,” Los Angeles coach Tyronn Lue said. “Our guys were able to get some rest going into a back-to-back.”

James Harden moved past Dominique Wilkins into 15th place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list with a 21-point, 11-assist night.

Meanwhile, Kawhi Leonard continued his ascent back to peak form and fitness with a season-best 23 points.

“He was really good,” Lue said. “His pace, his force, how he got to his spots, I thought was really good. Just keep stacking these days of feeling good, of trusting it, believing in it. He’d put the work in to get to this point.”

Just two nights earlier, Portland had an entirely different experience against Brooklyn, losing 132-114 at home.

Compounding the defeat, the Blazers’ frontcourt stocks took another hit, with center Donovan Clingan set to sit out against the Clippers after sustaining a mild left ankle sprain against the Nets. The team said he’d be re-evaluated in a week.

Fellow center Robert Williams III (illness) is doubtful, as is forward Deni Avdija (ankle), while Jerami Grant (face) remains sidelined.

Portland coach Chauncey Billups was critical of his side’s poor defense, which allowed Brooklyn to skip ahead and never surrender the lead.

“We talked about it, we tried to defend against it, and we just didn’t have pride at all defensively in the game,” he said. “There were a couple of guys here and there who fought extremely hard, but our pride wasn’t there on the defensive end of the floor. We just didn’t have enough people pulling the rope in the same direction.”

Second-year playmaker Scoot Henderson was a shining light in the disappointing performance, scoring a career-high 39 points, including 8-of-10 on 3-pointers.

“As basketball players, you have those nights when it just feels like everything you put up is going to go in,” Billups said. “You want to stay in that moment for as long as possible. “All that aside, I was just so happy to see him ball out like that.”

After his lights-out performance, Henderson was more concerned with the Blazers’ lackluster defense.

“I always go back to what I could have done better and what we could have done better as a team,” he said. “And that was to get the heck back. Too many easy transition points for them we gave up.”

–Field Level Media