Darius Acuff Jr. shot just under 21 percent in his NBA debut, and the Kings lost 121-96 to the Clippers on Wednesday night, per Yahoo Sports. The box score gives the exact line: 5-for-24 from the field, 0-for-7 on threes and 2-for-5 at the line. He finished with 12 points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals. He also had four turnovers in 35 minutes and a team-worst minus-23.
The game was effectively decided early. The Clippers outscored Sacramento 41-29 in the first quarter and led for 98 percent of the game, with their lead peaking at 28. ESPN called it a "wire-to-wire season-opening rout" and noted it was Los Angeles' first season opener without Kawhi. The reporting we have doesn't say why he was out.
Darius Garland led the Clippers with 30 points on 11-for-19 shooting, with four assists. Yahoo noted he had 16 points on 5-for-5 shooting in the hot start. Brook Lopez added 17 points and 11 rebounds, per Sportsnet, and he made 7 of 12 shots in 27 minutes. Los Angeles shot 52 percent to Sacramento's 42, made 14 of 35 threes to the Kings' 8 of 28, and won the fast-break battle 27-18.
Acuff's night stands out because the rest of the Kings' offense was not bad. Zach LaVine scored 28 on 10-for-19 shooting. Domantas Sabonis had 14 points, 18 rebounds and 8 assists without missing a shot, going 5-for-5. Keegan Murray went 1-for-8 for two points. The Kings also had 17 turnovers, and the Clippers scored 23 points off their 18.
Coach Doug Christie was blunt afterward. Yahoo reported he urged his team to "calm down" going forward, saying the Kings "did not look comfortable on the court." The summary we have doesn't say whether he was talking about Acuff, the turnovers or the whole performance. Only Yahoo has the quote.
Sacramento is 0-1 and fifth in the Pacific. It doesn't have long to respond, since it hosts Portland on Friday, Oct. 23, in the second night of its season. The Clippers are 1-0 and second in the division. They visit the Lakers the same night, then play at Oklahoma City on Sunday.
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