Norman Powell scored 23 points and Amir Coffey added 21 while leading a second-half rally as the Los Angeles Clippers pulled out a 113-104 victory over the visiting San Antonio Spurs on Monday for their first win at their new arena in Inglewood, Calif.
Ivica Zubac scored 17 points with 13 rebounds and James Harden added 17 points after a slow start as the Clippers came out on top for the first time in five tries at the $2 billion Intuit Dome.
The Clippers trailed by 26 at the end of the first quarter before coming back on a 3-point barrage in the fourth quarter when they went 6 of 9 from distance. Coffey scored 19 points on 5-of-5 shooting from 3-point range in the second half.
Victor Wembanyama scored 24 points with 13 rebounds and nine blocked shots as the Spurs lost without head coach Gregg Popovich, who is not with the team because of an undisclosed illness. Wembanyama’s blocks total tied the second highest of his career.
Julian Champagnie scored 21 points, while Chris Paul added 14 points and 10 assists against his former team.
Los Angeles pulled within 86-82 with 26 seconds remaining in the third quarter on a 3-pointer from Coffey and moved in front 93-91 on a 3-pointer by Powell with 7:25 to play.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Coffey and Kris Dunn gave the Clippers a 99-93 lead with 5:48 remaining and a personal 5-0 run from Harden put Los Angeles up 107-95 with 3:57 left. Coffey sealed the victory on a dunk with less than 22 seconds remaining for a 112-102 lead.
The Spurs roared out to a double-digit lead less than five minutes into the game and were up 32-12 with 2:09 left in the first quarter. They pushed the advantage to 40-14 at the end of the opening period.
The Clippers cut the deficit to single digits with 4:52 remaining in the first half and trailed 56-48 at halftime.
Powell didn’t make his first shot from the floor until 4:02 remained in the first half and Harden didn’t make his first shot until a 3-pointer with 4.0 seconds remaining before halftime.