Photo: Harry How / Getty Images Sport / Getty Images
INGLEWOOD (CNS) - The Clippers will open their season by hosting the Phoenix Suns Wednesday evening in the first regular-season game at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood without their top two scorers from last season.
Forward Kawhi Leonard, who averaged 23.7 points per game helping lead the Clippers to 51-31 record and their first Pacific Division championship since the 2013-14 season, is sidelined indefinitely as he rehabilitates from inflammation in his right knee, coach Ty Lue confirmed ahead of Thursday's preseason game against the Sacramento Kings.
Point guard Paul George signed a multi-year contract with the Philadelphia 76ers July 6 after averaging 22.6 points per game in his fifth and final season with the Clippers.
The Clippers will honor basketball legend Jerry West with a "JW" court decal and a memorial seat at Intuit Dome throughout the 2024-25 season. West served as an executive board member and consultant for the franchise from 2017 until his death on June 12 at the age of 86.
"Jerry was a lifelong learner and teacher who inspired all of us with his intellect, enthusiasm and love for the game," said Clippers owner Steve Ballmer. "He gave his whole heart to the NBA. We think about him and we miss him every day."
Since West joined the organization the Clippers never had a losing season and appeared in the first Western Conference Finals in franchise history in 2021.
Oddsmakers have made the Suns a 5- to 5 1/2-point favorite. ESPN's matchup predictor gives Phoenix a 62.5% chance of winning, the Clippers a 37.5% chance.
The 7 p.m. game will be televised by ESPN.
The Clippers bill the Intuit Dome as a "technologically advanced and basketball-obsessed arena and entertainment venue (that) will deliver a uniquely intimate and intense experience that will redefine what it means to be the best arena in the world."
The Intuit Dome's features include:
-- the two-sided "Halo Board" scoreboard that encircles the arena with nearly an acre of lighting, covering 38,375 square feet;
-- "The Wall," a 51-row section with strict rules designed to ensure only Clippers fans are admitted -- through restrictions on ticket resale and the wearing of opposing team gear; and
-- the standing-only "Supporters Section" described by the team as "built to hold 300 of our most passionate Clippers fans."
Fans attending events will have to download the Intuit Dome app and create an account to enter the venue. Once the account is created, ticketholders can set up a "Game Face ID" that allows them to walk directly into the arena without displaying a ticket, or use an "Identity Pass" that requires people to scan a smartphone ticket to enter.
The arena is also cashless, so people must upload a payment method onto the Intuit Dome app to make concession and retail store purchases.
The arena has 1,400 toilets, Ballmer told Jon Wertheim of the CBS News magazine "60 Minutes" in a recent interview.
"I really hate it when people wait in line," Ballmer said. "Waiting in line for toilets ... stops people from getting back into the game. People get frustrated."