Justin Russo

Clippers honor Zubac, throttle Pacers Hello, old friend.

🚨NEW: The LA Clippers’ Wednesday night win at Intuit Dome was as emotional as can be. Ivica Zubac got his welcome back, Darius Garland made his home debut, Bennedict Mathurin and Isaiah Jackson played their former team. But there was an unfortunate injury. 🔗 justinrusso.substack.com/p/clippers-h...

Tyronn Lue, on the ovation from the Clippers fans after the tribute video for Ivica Zubac in his return to Intuit Dome: "I'm glad the fans showed their appreciation ... because he deserves it."

Yanic Konan Niederhäuser "suffered a right foot injury." He will not make the trip. The Clippers say he will undergo further evaluation tomorrow.

After Ivica Zubac was done catching up with former Clippers players following the game, he and Steve Ballmer had a nice embrace and talk.

Final: Clippers 130, Pacers 107. Ivica Zubac got a resounding ovation in his return to Intuit Dome, Kawhi Leonard and company were fantastic, and the Clippers moved to 30-31. The unfortunate injury to Yanic Konan Niederhäuser was the lone blemish on an otherwise perfect night.

Norchad Omier has his first NBA points!

Have Micah Potter and Isaiah Hartenstein ever been seen in the same place before?

Darius Garland checks out of his Intuit Dome debut with 12 points, 8 assists, and 4 rebounds in 24 minutes. Garland was 5-for-10 from the field and 2-for-4 from deep. The guard was a +20.

Let #PickWatch begin, courtesy of the Clippers’ broadcast.

End Q3: Clippers 102, Pacers 77. Clippers outscored Indiana 37-18 in the final 10 minutes of the third. Kawhi Leonard has 29 points, Brook Lopez with 17, and Bennedict Mathurin's added 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists off the bench.

Pacers trimmed the Clippers' lead down to 6 and had the ball. But an 18-3 Clippers run has stretched this one out to an 83-62 Clippers lead. Kawhi Leonard has 29 points and 8 rebounds, Brook Lopez has added 17 points.

Clippers have dealt with more than their fair share of seriously injuries to very promising rookies. Them dealing with another one, especially considering the ascent that Yanic Konan Niederhäuser was experiencing, is just tough. Hard to not to feel for the young Swiss big man.

Halftime: Clippers 63, Pacers 51. Kawhi Leonard has 20 points. Clippers shot 54%.

Yanic Konan Niederhäuser (right foot) is OUT for the rest of tonight's game.

Kawhi Leonard has his 39th consecutive 20-point game. The LA Clippers single-season franchise record is 44 games by Bob McAdoo. Over the previous 38 games, Leonard has averaged 28.8 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.9 steals on 50-38-89 shooting (62.1 TS%).

Yanic Konan Niederhäuser is down on the floor and grabbing at his right ankle and foot area. This looks bad. Niederhäuser is going to the locker room with assistance. You don't want to speculate, but the way his foot looked on the replay was not good.

The baseline referee made a bad out of bounds call, giving the ball to the Indiana Pacers, but almost immediately, Andrew Nembhard tapped his chest and signaled that it actually went out on him last. Don't see that too often.

End Q1: Clippers 42, Pacers 25. Clippers shot 64%, had 30 points in the paint, and were led by Kawhi Leonard's 12 points. Darius Garland has 4 points and 2 assists. Bennedict Mathurin with 6 points and 3 rebounds. Ten Clippers have played, seven have scored.

Darius Garland has his first Intuit Dome basket as a member of the LA Clippers.

Darius Garland has checked in for his LA Clippers home debut.

Every so often a tribute video comes along that makes you emotional. This one will. Welcome back home, Ivica Zubac.

Ivica Zubac making the rounds in his return to Intuit Dome.

Ivica Zubac’s locker inside the road locker room at Intuit Dome tonight.

Tyronn Lue called me a nerd in the nicest way possible:

Tyronn Lue, on Ivica Zubac: “He meant a lot ... he was a great human being. He loved other guys’ success, he played every single night. We miss him. He’s a great guy and we miss him. I cussed him out the other day but he knows why. But that’s still my guy.”

Tyronn Lue, joking about Ivica Zubac telling him that Rick Carlisle is going to let Zubac shoot more 3s: "I wish he would have played tonight so we could have experienced that."

Tyronn Lue said that he "cussed out" Ivica Zubac when the two talked the other day, but then said that Zubac "knows why". Lue is happy to see Zubac make his return to Los Angeles despite not playing this evening. Lue called Zubac a great human being.

John Collins is not making the upcoming LA Clippers road trip. He will be reevaluated when the team returns, the Clippers said.

No, of course I wasn't on the verge of throwing up while watching the Arsenal and City matches side-by-side. Why do you ask?

Pelicans led 94-86 with 7:20 to go and then got outscored 24-7 the rest of the way. Shot 3-for-15 and had 2 turnovers. Yikes.