They let me in the building to watch basketball & write about the Clippers (+ other stuff). It's pretty cool. | Business Inquiries: [email protected]
California, USA
Joined May 2009
- Tweets552K
- Following1.7K
- Followers21K
- Likes20.5K
Pinned Tweet
Mentioned it a while ago, but I’ve moved over to Substack. You can catch all my comings and goings over there. Give it a follow (or read, or whatever) if you’re at all interested in Clippers content and other random musings. Greatly appreciate all of you.
justinrusso.substack.com/
For everyone tonight, this morning, wherever you maybe --
🚨 STORY: The last vestiges of the LA Clippers’ ‘213’ era are gone. On Wednesday night, amidst the rain, a new Clippers era might have been born in a wire-to-wire win. All it took was a little trip from Keaton Wagler and Darius Garland. Welcome … to the ‘110’?
🔗 LINK BELOW! 👇
📰 GARLAND, WAGLER POWER CLIPPERS TO OPENING NIGHT WIN: substacktools.com/sharex/nol…
Brook Lopez on his message to this Clippers team: “Whatever expectations there are outside this locker room, they don’t matter at all. We know the work we’ve put in. ... We just have to keep playing together, being together, talking, having good vibes.”
Darius Garland on what he’s seen out of Keaton Wagler: “He’s been working his butt off, literally. He’s been in the gym every day and just his confidence is just growing out the roof. ... His confidence is sky high right now. We’ve seen it today and it was really good.”
Keaton Wagler on figuring out angles which to attack defenses: “Definitely just reading the defenders, how they’re guarding me in ball screens and myself and just looking to make the right read every time.”
Keaton Wagler on how much the game has slowed down for him: “It’s slowed down a lot. Just getting used to physicality, speed of the game, the pressure that comes with bringing the ball up and everything and getting in the right spot. It’s definitely just slowed down for me.”
Tyronn Lue on the team responding after the early third-quarter timeout: “I loved it. I just thought we were a little too lax. ... Then to start the third quarter, we missed a bracket switch, and so just to get their minds refocused. I thought they did a good job responding.”
Per Clippers: Keaton Wagler is the second-youngest player in NBA history (LeBron James) to have at least 15 points, 5 assists and 5 rebounds while shooting at least 50% from the floor in an NBA debut.
Tyronn Lue, with a laugh when asked if Steve Ballmer text him before the game tonight: “He can’t. You trying to get me in trouble.” Ballmer is suspended by the NBA from all contact with the Clippers for 12 months.
Tyronn Lue, expanding on this: “Because the fans were electric, and that’s what he brings every night. … Our team needs that no matter the circumstances.” Lue went on to say, “We’ll keep him in our hearts. … We definitely wanna dedicate this one to him tonight.”
Tyronn Lue: “First off, that win was for Mr. Ballmer. I just wanted to say thank you and we’re still fighting for him.”
F: Clippers 121, Kings 96. Darius Garland 30 pts; Keaton Wagler 15 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast; Brook Lopez 17 pts, 11 reb. Clippers led wire-to-wire, led by as much as 28. They start 1-0 for the first time since 2023. They’re at the Lakers on Friday.
Keaton Wagler is the first Clippers rookie to have at least 15 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists in a career debut since Ernie DiGregorio in 1973. Wagler is the first to do so since the team moved to California.
Keaton Wagler’s 15 points tonight are the most by an LA Clippers rookie in a career debut since Blake Griffin had 20 in 2010.
Darius Garland’s last three season openers saw him score 26 points combined on 32 shots. He has 30 points on 19 shots this evening and has made more 3s tonight (3) than he did across those three games altogether (2).
Keaton Wagler’s second 3-pointer of the night catapults him into the first double-digit game of his fledgling career. Wagler has 12 points, 4 assists, and 3 rebounds in 24 minutes. The youngster also has 3 steals and is a +20. Clippers lead 108-80.
Zach LaVine has graced Intuit Dome with free Chick-fil-A tonight since he missed consecutive fourth-quarter free throws. Everything’s coming up nicely for Clippers fans this evening.