Rain City Showcase 2023: Clippers top Jazz as Seattle shows out

By Bel Garcia, edited by Charles Hamaker

Seattle, WA - The city of Seattle brought back the Rain City Showcase for the second year in a row. This year, the Los Angeles Clippers matched up against the Utah Jazz in their second consecutive pre-season game against each other. Los Angeles was considered the home team today, and the loudest cheers were heard for Russell Westbrook and Kawhi Leonard as they were announced as starters. The most important part of tonight was that the starved NBA fans in Seattle got another chance at showing the league that it belongs back in the city.

Seattle sports royalty was in attendance for the Rain City Showcase, including Seattle Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner and former Seattle Storm point guard Sue Bird (Photos by Mathew Bermudez)

The stars were out for this one, on the baseline was Coach Lenny Wilkens along with Coach George Karl. Even our Seattle Storm came out to support the Clippers and the Jazz, recently retired Sue Bird was courtside with Megan Rapinoe and some of our current Storm players. Jordan Horston made her way to join Bird, shortly followed by Coach Noelle Quinn. One thing that’s been known, is that our Seattle sports teams do a good job at supporting each other; with the Clippers being the home team tonight you could say they were still doing that. During a break in play in the first quarter the big screen went on to show one of our Mariners that was also taking in the action, J.P. Crawford, joined by teammate Marco Gonzales. Current Seattle Seahawk, Bobby Wagner and former Hawks Cliff Avril and Jermaine Kearse were in attendance as well.

Fans in attendance at Climate Pledge Arena showed out, continuing to display that the city of Seattle deserves an NBA team once more (Photos by Mathew Bermudez)

In looking around the arena near the end of the first quarter, it was a great turnout by our Seattle NBA fans. The seats near the top of the arena were also full of happy faces watching the starters make an appearance for the beginning of the game. Seattle was sending a message today not only with the turnout, but also with the pools of green SuperSonics jerseys/shirts/or hats spotted in each section. After the first quarter, Seattle Storm mascot Doppler and Seattle Kraken mascot Buoy made an appearance to help Chuck the Condor; LA’s mascot, in what they called Chuck the Chucks as several Chuck plushies in parachutes started flying through the sky. Sure, there were dunks, threes, and blocks of plenty, but the excitement felt to participate in every fan related activity was electrifying.

The three mascots in attendance, Chuck the Condor of the Los Angeles Clippers, Buoy of the Seattle Kraken, and Doppler of the Seattle Storm, brought the energy to the game tonight (Photos by Mathew Bermudez)

The Clippers took the early lead into the second quarter, but after sitting starters George, Westbrook, and Leonard, the Jazz cut the lead to only two. This prompted Los Angeles to bring their leading scorer, Kawhi Leonard, back onto the court. Paul George struggled to find his shot in the first half, only scoring three points in the 19 minutes he was on the hardwood. He found other ways to help his team maintain the lead, as he had five assists at the half. Leonard led both teams at the half with 16 points, as Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen wasn’t far behind him going 5-9 from the field with 13 points in his 17 minutes of play. No team did significantly better than the other, and both quarters were relatively similar in field goal percentage with the Clippers taking the edge beyond the arc.

The Los Angeles Clippers, tonight’s home team, took the victory over the Utah Jazz in today’s Rain City Showcase led by Kawhi Leonard. (Photos by Mathew Bermudez)

The Utah Jazz kept a lot of their starters in to begin the second half, while the Clippers gave their bench players some more minutes. A risky move, as the Jazz saw themselves crawling back in the second half behind efforts from Talen Horton-Tucker. Bench players in the preseason have a bit more to prove, because they’re fighting for a possible starting position. Utah played much better in the second half, keeping up with the Clippers in rebounds and turning the ball over less. Along with making better shot selections, Utah ended the game at a better field goal percentage by a slim margin. The “home team” Clippers held on for the 103-98 win in Seattle in another successful Rain City showcase.

Jordan Clarkson and John Collins of the Utah Jazz in their preseason loss to the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2023 Rain City Showcase. (Photos by Mathew Bermudez)

It's clear how much Seattle misses having an NBA team by the turnout and excitement showcased today. Climate Pledge Arena saw 99% attendance and was not disappointed by what we hope continues to be a yearly tradition.

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Check out our previous articles with writing by Bel Garcia here

Check out our previous articles with photos by Mathew Bermudez here, and his portfolio here