The Clippers open the preseason in Hawaii on Sunday against the team that ended their season in April.
The last time the Los Angeles Clippers played the Golden State Warriors in a game that counted, their season ended.
Golden State won 126-121 in the Play-In Tournament in April, closing out a 42-40 year for the Clippers, and the two teams meet again on Sunday at 1 p.m. local time at Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu, where the Clippers are the home team.
Since then, the Clippers traded James Harden in February, moved on from Kawhi Leonard this summer and are dealing with heavy NBA penalties from the Leonard investigation, including the loss of five first-round picks and a one-year suspension for owner Steve Ballmer.
Head coach Tyronn Lue has kept his team focused on what it can control.
"Our main goal is to make the playoffs, that's gotta be our mindset every single day is to win games and try to make the playoffs," Lue said in Hawaii this week, via Hawaii News Now.
I will be watching three things.
Darius Garland and a New First Unit
Point guard Darius Garland is the one with the ball now, after he came over in the Harden trade and averaged 19.9 points and 6.4 assists in 19 games with the Clippers last season.
Garland, guard Max Strus, forward Derrick Jones Jr., forward Rui Hachimura and center Isaiah Jackson worked with the first unit in the first two days of camp, according to ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk, while center Brook Lopez was with the second group.
Lue said things will change, and the battle for starting spots is still open.
Sunday is our first real look at that group together, and I want to see if Garland has room.
Who Picks Up the Scoring
Forward Brandon Ingram was supposed to be the other half of the new core after averaging 21.5 points in an All-Star season in Toronto, but the team was aware of his injury concern, and he has a partially torn Achilles that will keep him out for most of camp and the start of the season, as The Sporting Tribune reported.
Guard Bradley Beal is also working through some knee swelling, and the team plans to go slow with him.
That leaves shots up for grabs, so Strus and Hachimura will get chances, and rookie guard Keaton Wagler, who has been challenging himself in camp, could get a long look.
My guess is that Strus gets the most shots on Sunday, but Wagler is the one I am most curious about.
A Look at the New Warriors
Guard Stephen Curry, guard Brandin Podziemski, rookie forward Yaxel Lendeborg, forward Draymond Green and center Al Horford are expected to start for Golden State on Sunday, per the San Francisco Standard.
Center Kristaps Porzingis is out indefinitely with a health issue, and forward Jimmy Butler is injured.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr believes he can guard point guards, which means Garland could see a lot of a rookie in his first preseason game with his new group.
The Clippers will face the Toronto Raptors on Oct. 10 in Vancouver and the Denver Nuggets on Oct. 14 at Intuit Dome before the regular season starts Wednesday, Oct. 21, against the Sacramento Kings.
Nobody should care about the score, but the effort will tell us plenty.
