Norman Powell scored 23 points, and Amir Coffey added 21 as they helped lead the Los Angeles Clippers to a 113-104 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Monday, marking the Clippers’ first win at their new Intuit Dome arena in Inglewood, Calif.
Ivica Zubac contributed 17 points and 13 rebounds, while James Harden finished with 17 points after a slow start. This win was the Clippers’ first at the new $2 billion arena, having lost their first four games there.
The Clippers faced a 26-point deficit at the end of the first quarter but staged a comeback with a strong shooting performance in the fourth quarter, hitting 6 of 9 3-pointers. Coffey was especially hot, scoring 19 points in the second half and hitting all five of his 3-point attempts.
Victor Wembanyama led the Spurs with 24 points, 13 rebounds, and nine blocked shots, but San Antonio lost without their head coach Gregg Popovich, who missed the game due to an undisclosed illness. Wembanyama’s nine blocks tied for the second-most in his career.
Julian Champagnie added 21 points for the Spurs, and Chris Paul scored 14 points and recorded 10 assists against his former team.
The Clippers closed the gap to 86-82 with 26 seconds left in the third quarter after Coffey’s 3-pointer, and they took the lead at 93-91 on Powell’s 3-pointer with 7:25 remaining. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Coffey and Kris Dunn pushed Los Angeles ahead 99-93 with 5:48 left.
Harden then went on a personal 5-0 run, extending the lead to 107-95 with 3:57 remaining. Coffey capped the win with a dunk, giving the Clippers a 112-102 lead with under 22 seconds left.
San Antonio came out strong, taking a double-digit lead in the first five minutes of the game and finishing the first quarter up 40-14. The Clippers managed to reduce the deficit to 56-48 by halftime.
Powell didn’t make his first field goal until there was just over four minutes left in the second quarter, and Harden’s first basket came with just 4 seconds left in the half, a 3-pointer.
