Rui Hachimura’s first game as a Clipper came with plenty of missed shots, but it also came with enough work in the margins to keep the opening-night reading from being all bad.
Hachimura was supposed to fill a major scoring role, yet he finished with 10 points in 32 minutes, tied for the team high. The shooting line was rough: 3-for-13 from the field, 2-for-7 from deep, and 2-for-5 at the free-throw line. On paper, that’s the kind of night that sticks out for all the wrong reasons.
But the box score only tells part of the story. Even while the jumper wasn’t cooperating, Hachimura stayed active on offense, battled on the glass and made his presence felt defensively. That’s what kept his night from drifting into a full no-show.
The rebounding stood out most. Hachimura pulled down 8 boards, second on the team behind Brook Lopez’s 11, and was noticeable with his work boxing out on both ends. For a Clippers team starting Isaiah Jackson at center, that kind of help from the power forward spot mattered.
His defense gave the outing another useful layer. Late in the second quarter, he came up with a strong block that turned into an easy Darius Garland basket, and overall he held up well. Hachimura finished with a 95.6 defensive rating in his 32 minutes, a strong number for a player not known primarily for what he does on that end.
So yes, the shooting night was ugly. But Hachimura didn’t let the misses take him out of the game, and that response is what made the performance more encouraging than the stat line suggests. The Clippers won by 25, and Hachimura still found ways to help even when his scoring touch disappeared.
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