Darius Garland scored 30 points, Brook Lopez added 17 points with 11 rebounds and the Los Angeles Clippers moved on from a tumultuous offseason to earn a 121-96 victory over the visiting Sacramento Kings in the season opener for both teams Wednesday at Inglewood, Calif.
Isaiah Jackson scored 13 points and Gradey Dick added 12 as the Clippers won after receiving sanctions in the offseason, including the loss of draft picks, for circumventing the salary cap with former forward Kawhi Leonard.
Keaton Wagler, the No. 5 overall selection in the most recent NBA Draft, scored 15 points with five assists in 29 minutes off the bench for Los Angeles.
The Clippers shot 52.4% from the floor, 40% from 3-point range and held a 49-42 rebounding advantage with 14 steals.
Zach LaVine scored 28 points and Domantas Sabonis added 14 points with 18 rebounds after both players missed a majority of last season with injuries. Precious Achiuwa contributed 15 points.
Sacramento rookie Darius Acuff Jr., the No. 7 overall draft pick, started at point guard in his NBA debut and scored 12 points with three assists in 35 minutes. Acuff ended the night 5 of 24 (20.8%) from the floor and 0 of 7 from 3-point range.
The Clippers took charge early, leading by as many as 15 points in the first quarter before ending the period with a 41-29 advantage. The lead increased to 18 points in the second quarter with Los Angeles up 61-54 at halftime behind 18 points from Garland.
Whatever doubt remained was eliminated in the third quarter, when the Clippers shot 64.7% from the floor to 27.3% for the Kings while expanding their lead to 93-70.
The victory was the Clippers’ eighth over the past nine games against the Kings going back to the start of the 2024-25 season.
While Garland was 11 of 19 from the floor, Clippers forward Rui Hachimura was 3 of 13 while scoring 10 points in his team debut.
–Field Level Media
