Ball, Lakers get clipped in opener
George, Anthony help Thunder open season with win over Knicks
Blake Griffin scored 29 points, DeAndre Jordan added 14 points and 24 rebounds, and the Los Angeles Clippers spoiled Lonzo Ball’s quiet NBA debut with a 108-92 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night.
Lou Williams added 12 points in the Clippers’ first game since Chris Paul spurned the perennial playoff team after six years and forced an offseason trade to Houston. The Clippers will have a new look this season, but they were still miles ahead of their Staples Center co-tenants in both teams’ season openers.
Ball had three points, four assists and nine rebounds in 29 minutes during the first game for the No. 2 overall pick from UCLA.
THUNDER 105, KNICKS 84
» Russell Westbrook had a triple- double as Oklahoma City rolled in its first game with All- Star additions Paul George and Carmelo Anthony. Westbrook, the NBA MVP last season when he averaged a tripledouble, had with 21 points, 16 assists and 10 rebounds. George led the Thunder with 28 points, and Anthony had 22 points against his former team. NETS’ LIN EXPECTED TO MISS SEASON » Brooklyn Nets guard Jeremy Lin is expected to miss the rest of the season because of a ruptured patella tendon of the right knee. Lin, who went to Palo Alto High, was hurt midway through the fourth quarter of the Nets’ 140-131 loss at Indiana on Wednesday in their opener. He landed hard behind the baseline after a drive to the basket and was in tears as he clutched at his knee. The former Harvard guard was hoping for a stronger second season with the Nets. He was limited to just 36 games in 2016-17 while Brooklyn finished with the NBA’s worst record. HAYWARD SURGERY COMPLETE » Gordon Hayward agent said the surgery “went really well.” Mark Bartelstein said Thursday that doctors “got everything sort of fixed and put back in the right place. So that’s great. There’s no doubt we’ll get him back to be better than he was before.
“There’s no doubt in my mind about that.”
After signing a four-year, $128 million free agent contract to come to Boston from the Utah Jazz, his only professional team, Hayward’s Celtics career was less than six minutes oldwhen an awkward landing in Cleveland on Tuesday night left him with a broken left tibia and dislocated ankle. INJURY ISSUES » San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard hasn’t played yet this season because of a quadriceps injury. Houston’s Chris Paul missed a game at Sacramento with knee pain. Cleveland’s Isaiah Thomas won’t be back until January, at least, while recovering from a hip injury. Those players, along with Hayward, are just the hurting All- Stars from last season. Utah’s Dante Exum may miss the whole season with a dislocated left shoulder, andMilwaukee’s Jabari Parker ( knee) has months of rehab work left.