NEW ORLEANS -- Cold outside air poured through the loading dock a couple hundred feet from tunnels leading out to the floor, coating the lower bowl at Smoothie King Center on Thursday with a chilled draft. For the first time this season, Paul George took the court for a pregame warmup and the first thing he needed to do was exactly that -- warm up.
He picked up two basketballs to go through his dribbling routine, but after losing one, he stopped to blow some hot breath over his hands. His LA Clippers debut was some 60 minutes away, and with expectations casting a dense fog around the team, he was focused on just getting back.