New court, new jerseys, new vibes as the Clippers get back to winning ways

INGLEWOOD, Calif. -- The first night of “City Edition” was a success, as the Clippers defeated the Utah Jazz 116-105 on Sunday night. 

The end to end victory ended the three game skid the Clippers had coming in, and got the team back to .500 at 7-7.

As a team, the Clippers, showing off their “Pacific Blue” jerseys and tropical court, had five players in double figures in the scoring department.

James Harden finally eclipsed Ray Allen for second on the all-time three pointers made list with his triple early in the game. He followed that up with 20 points, 6 rebounds, and 11 assists, and finished his night with a dunk…yes a dunk to put the game out of reach. 

Ivica Zubac also got back on track with a double-double of his own. He had 22 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocks while going 11/17 from the field. 

Norm Powell also had a bounce back game, scoring 19 points, albeit being on 6-17 shooting, but started off hot and provided a consistent offensive threat throughout. 

Mo Bamba made his long-awaited Clipper debut, tallying 9 points and 8 rebounds in 15 minutes, and giving the Clippers some great interior presence defensively and as a lob threat.

Bamba will now seemingly be the Clippers backup center over Kai Jones, and in his first outing in his new threads, he looked like he did not miss a beat. 

The bench unit that broke it open consisted of Bamba, but also had the likes of Kevin Porter Jr., Amir Coffey, Terance Mann and Nico Batum. 

Porter Jr. has been on a hot stretch and looks like he finally found his footing being back in the NBA, totaling 12 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds. Add that to Bamba’s output, Coffey’s 7 points, and Batum’s switchability, it caused major issues for the Jazz bench unit. 

This win started a four game homestand for the Clippers, and seeing their City Edition court and uniforms was fresh, clean and apparently good luck. 

The powder blue jerseys mixed with the tropical court really made the Intuit Dome pop with some fresh energy, and the Clippers seemed to feed off that. 

The Clippers have a back-to-back and play the new look Golden State Warriors back at Intuit Dome on Monday night. Tipoff is set for 7:30 PM PST.