Without Kawhi or Ballmer, Clippers Rout Kings by 25 in Opener

Darius Garland scored 30 and a 32-16 third quarter buried Sacramento as the post-Leonard Clippers opened 1-0.

The Clippers' first season opener without Kawhi Leonard since 2019 went by without them trailing once. They beat the Sacramento Kings 121-96 Wednesday night at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, according to the final from TheSportsDB's scores feed. That leaves them 1-0 and level with the Lakers, the only two Pacific Division teams to win on opening night, according to ESPN's standings.

This could easily have gone badly. Leonard was traded to Toronto last month, after the league concluded the Clippers had broken its salary-cap circumvention rules in their dealings with him, the Associated Press reported. Owner Steve Ballmer wasn't in his usual baseline seat because he's serving a one-year league suspension. On top of that, the league took the club's draft picks for five straight years, 2029 through 2033, and fined it $30 million, AP reported.

The Clippers were also missing five players, Bradley Beal, Brandon Ingram and Max Strus among them, AP reported. Leonard, meanwhile, scored 23 in Toronto's opening win over Chicago the same night. That's a lot to be missing, and the Clippers still won by 25.

Darius Garland had the mic before tip-off. Standing at midcourt, the guard told the crowd, "We're gonna be here all year," the Los Angeles Times reported. Then he made his first five shots, three of them from deep, and had 16 points in nine minutes. He finished with 30 on 11-of-19 shooting in his first opener since the Clippers got him from Cleveland in the James Harden trade.

A 25-point final makes the game look like a blowout from start to finish, and it wasn't. The Kings won the second quarter 25-20 and went into halftime down only 61-54, according to ESPN's box score. The third quarter went 32-16 for the Clippers, and that accounts for almost two-thirds of the final margin.

That 32-16 can't tell you how much was the Clippers' defense and how much was Sacramento's aim. The Kings made 8 of 28 threes all night, according to ESPN's box score. Rookie Darius Acuff Jr. took a game-high 24 shots and made five, Kings On SI reported. Kings On SI also reported that Keegan Murray scored two points on 1-of-8 shooting in the first game of his five-year, $140 million deal.

Sacramento's veterans did their part. Zach LaVine scored 28, according to ESPN's box score. Domantas Sabonis went 5-for-5 for 14 points, with 18 rebounds and eight assists, Kings On SI reported.

The Clippers' reserves outscored the Kings' 53-34, AP reported. Brook Lopez had 17 points and 11 rebounds off the bench, according to AP. Keaton Wagler, the No. 5 pick and the franchise's highest since Blake Griffin went first in 2009, added 15 points, five rebounds and five assists, according to the Times.

"It was definitely chills," Wagler, 19, said of his debut, the Times reported. The night's other big addition didn't go as well. Rui Hachimura, signed away from the Lakers, went 3-for-13 for 10 points in his Clippers debut.

The Times reported that most outside predictions expect the Clippers' run of 15 straight seasons above .500 to end. Hachimura's old team is up next: the Clippers play at the Lakers on Friday, AP reported, in a game between the Pacific's only two unbeaten teams. That'll stay true for one more game.

Source: ESPN, retrieved October 22, 2026. Other sources: aol.com, sports.yahoo.com, si.com.