The LA Clippers kicked off their preseason with an easy win over Israel’s Maccabi Ra’anana. The Stars were given a break in the 121-81 blowout win, but Kawhi Leonard’s comeback date has already been set.
L.A. Clippers (1-0) – Maccabi Ra’anana (0-1) 121:81
- Points: Luke Kennard (16) – Anthony Morse (20)
- Rebounds: Moses Brown (13) – Willy Workman (10)
- Assists: Jason Preston (10) – Alon Sapir (5)
As head coach Tyronn Lue confirmed on Friday, Kawhi will be back on the NBA floor for the first time since his long injury break in the preseason game against the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday night. The two-time Finals MVP missed the entire past season due to a cruciate ligament injury.
Leonard makes a “very good impression,” emphasized Lue. His star player has taken part in all training sessions so far, “it was good to see that”. The 31-year-old himself explained that he feels “stronger” than before his injury.
In addition to Kawhi, numerous other veterans only watched the preseason opener against the Israelis, including Paul George, Nicolas Batum, Reggie Jackson and newcomer John Wall. Nevertheless, the Clippers drove an unchallenged victory. LA sank a good 50 percent of their field shots, while Maccabi only sunk just under 33 percent. In addition, the NBA stars converted ten more threes and were often on the free-throw line. Accordingly, a 40-point victory was recorded at the end.
The best scorer for the Clippers was Luke Kennard, who welded 4/5 threes through the trap on the way to 16 points. Moses Brown (13 rebounds), Moussa Diabaté and Michael Devoe each had 14 points. Point guard Jason Preston drew attention with 10 assists.
On the other side, center Anthony Morse was in focus with 20 points (9/17 FG) and 7 rebounds. Jason Siggers also got double digits (15, 6/13 FG), otherwise all Maccabi players stayed in single digits.
The biggest celebration in Seattle, host of the preseason, came when the city’s baseball team, the Seattle Mariners, secured a playoff ticket for the first time since 2001. They ended the longest drought without a playoff appearance in the four major US sports leagues (NBA, MLB, NFL and NHL) – the Sacramento Kings (2006) now hold this dubious honor.
