LOS ANGELES, Sporting Alert – Chris Paul, DeAndre Jordan, Josh Smith and Blake Griffin all scored in double figures and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Denver Nuggets 103-96 in the first game of the NBA preseason on Friday night.
Jordan led the way for the new-look LA Clippers with a double-double of 15 points and 12 rebounds, while going 3 of 5 from the free throw line.
The big center who has been working on his free throws during the offseason, knocked down the first two of his attempts, while he scored 12 of his total points in the first half on 5 of 6 shooting.
Jordan also finished the night with three dunks, which delighted most of the 14,245 fans gathered to see the 2015 preseason opening tip-off.
Smith collected 13 points and eight rebounds, Paul added 12 points, nine assists and five rebounds, while Griffin finished with 11 points and five rebounds in the win.
The newly acquired veteran Paul Pierce started alongside Griffin at forward and scored five points in 15 minutes.
Joffrey Lauvergne scored a game-high 16 points on 7 of 10 shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds from off the bench to lead the Nuggets.
Rookie Emmanuel Mudiay started his NBA career very cold after missing eight of his first 11 shots before he finished with 14 points on 5 of 18 shooting.
Nikola Jokic also scored 14 points and pulled down eight rebounds before fouling out of the game, Will Barton finished with 12 points and 13 boards and Wilson Chandler and Gary Harris each scored 11 points in the defeat for Denver.
Chandler also had eight rebounds and two steals, while Harris finished with four steals.
Austin Rivers scored 10 points and picked up four steals in a reserve role for the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center.
As a team, the LA Clippers shot 40.7-percent from the floor, while going just 9 of 32 from three-point range.
Denver was 42.5-percent from the field as a team and 38.9-percent from long-range.
The Clippers return to preseason action again on Sunday against the Toronto Raptors in Vancouver, British Columbia, while the Nuggets are at the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night.
