The Clippers‘ forthcoming Inglewood arena has received the final approval necessary from the Inglewood City Council, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN (Twitter link). The team, which announced a joint deal to buy the publicly-owned property on the arena site, now has the go-ahead to begin building its new arena in 2021.
In a press release on the club’s official site, the team notes that construction is scheduled to commence next summer. The Clippers are expected to move from the Staples Center, an arena they share with the Lakers, to their new home ahead of the 2024/25 season.
There’s more out of the Pacific Division:
- Suns coach Monty Williams has added Brian Randle to his staff as an assistant coach, per Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter link). Randle is a former player development coach for the Timberwolves.
- Lakers starting center JaVale McGee has been cleared to play in tonight’s pivotal Game 3 against the Rockets, per Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). McGee turned his left ankle in Game 2 of the Lakers’ series with the Rockets and was limited to just eight minutes of action. An MRI on the ankle came back negative. Mark Medina of USA Today tweets McGee will not have a minutes restriction tonight. Medina adds that bench guard Dion Waiters will not be available for Game 3.
- Meanwhile, Rockets forward Danuel House Jr. will be unavailable tonight for personal reasons, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Feigen adds (Twitter link) that Houston center Tyson Chandler will also miss tonight’s game for personal reasons, but that both players remain on the NBA’s Orlando campus.
- Clippers All-Star Kawhi Leonard‘s stellar Game 3 performance showcased just how valuable he is as a two-way player, and why he was the top priority for Los Angeles in free agency ahead of the season, notes Brian Windhorst of ESPN. Leonard was named to the 2020 All-Defensive Second Team earlier this afternoon.
Tonight is Game 3 in the LAL/HOU series, not 4.
Chandler hasn’t played at all, so he won’t be missed, but House could be a decent sized subtraction in tonight’s game. When McGee is on the floor in this series, the Lakers don’t look quite right. Can’t switch on all the shooters quite the same as when AD plays center, so we will see how much he plays himself.
Missing one of their top backups definitely hurt the Rockets.
Hopefully they won’t continue playing like crap in the 4th quarter.
Lakers need make them match up to them. When you go big. You have to attack the post. And can play some zone on D.
Clippers should have broken ground long ago.
The Clippers made the best free agent their top priority? Riveting analysis from Windhorst.
Can clippers move to Seattle already? No one here likes them.