LOS ANGELES, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- The Los Angeles Clippers lost to the Portland Trail Blazers in NBA action at the Staples Center by 104-96 Tuesday night, in an event which was promoted by the Clippers as Chinese heritage night.
As a part of a Clippers project aimed at honoring various cultures during the 2017-18 season, fans received a Chinese Heritage Night Lantern and access to pre-game warmups by using the promo code "Lunar" in advance.
Led by the talented backcourt of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum, the Trail Blzers kept a small lead at the very beginning of the game, but clamped down on the Clippers by 30-16 in the third quarter. The two guards shot a game-high 28 and 16 points respectively while the team's center Jusuf Nurkic grabbed 14 points and 20 rebounds.
Four players from the Clippers scored in the double digits, but the absence of the team's former face and five-time all star Blake Griffin, who was traded to the Detroit Pistons in an abrupt swap sealed Monday, weakened their power even though they wanted to fight to the last second.
The Clippers clawed back to 100-94 with two minutes left, but they only managed one field goal in the final minutes of the game.
The Clippers coach Doc Rivers shrugged off rumors before the game that the team will trade its remaining stars DeAndre Jordan and Lou Williams, who scored 20 and 8 points tonight.
"We make this trade and then everyone thinks we're just trading everybody away. That's not true," Rivers told ESPN. "But that's what's out there. Sometimes you can't control the narrative. You can just control your job, and that's what I have to do."
