Clippers’ China trip gets off to a hobbling start

It was the only kind of loss the Clippers really wanted to avoid in the preseason.

Chris Paul broke his left index finger during practice Saturday before the Clippers’ exhibition game against the Charlotte Hornets, about as unlucky of a start as the team could get on its weeklong trip to China.

The All-Star point guard sat out the Clippers’ 106-94 loss to the Hornets at Shenzhen Universiade Center in Shenzhen, China, though he is not expected to miss extended time. The Clippers will play the Hornets again Wednesday in Shanghai before returning to Southern California.

Sitting out preseason games in China has become something of a routine for Paul, who missed one of two games there against the Miami Heat in 2012 before being cleared to play after off-season thumb surgery.

The Clippers were also without Austin Rivers against the Hornets after the reserve guard told reporters he had five teeth knocked out by an inadvertent elbow from rookie Branden Dawson in practice Friday. Rivers, who had the teeth re-implanted during a 2 1/2-hour surgery, is expected to sit out the next exhibition game as well.

The loss of their top two ball-handlers forced the Clippers to turn to Pablo Prigioni, a 38-year-old veteran who went from being buried on the depth chart to the starting lineup. Prigioni finished with five points, seven assists and five rebounds in a team-high 30 minutes.

The Clippers were playing their second game in six days on two continents, but one thing remained the same: defensive lapses. They surrendered 37 points in the first quarter and allowed seven Hornets to finish in double-figures scoring, led by Jeremy Lin and Cody Zeller (16 points apiece).

Clippers Coach Doc Rivers said the absences of Paul and Rivers hurt the most defensively.

“They’re our best two defensive guards,” Rivers told reporters, “and it showed in pick-and-roll coverage in a big way.”

Clippers guard J.J. Redick got off to a torrid start for a second consecutive game, with 16 points in the first quarter and 21 in the first half. Once again, however, he couldn’t sustain it, getting just two points after halftime on the way to finishing with 23.

Clippers forward Blake Griffin nearly logged a triple-double with 13 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds. Clippers swingman Lance Stephenson had seven points and seven assists with only two turnovers in his first game against the team that traded him in June after one horrible season in Charlotte.

Forward-center Spencer Hawes, who had a similarly bad season with the Clippers before they sent him to Charlotte as part of the Stephenson trade, had 10 points and 13 rebounds as part of the Hornets’ balanced attack.

The Clippers were balanced in a different way. Nearly everyone played poorly.

“I was not happy with the way anybody played tonight,” Doc Rivers said. “I thought Charlotte played so much harder than us and with a better spirit, so it’s going to take us time, and it’s a work in progress.”

The game was as much about marketing basketball as playing it.

Lin, the first NBA player of Taiwanese descent who wore a new spiky hairdo, triggered cheers when he addressed fans before the game. Clippers owner Steve Ballmer added some humor when he attempted to say a few words in Mandarin during a pregame news conference before adding in English, “I hope that was close to, ‘I love basketball.’ ”

As expected, the Chinese fans saved their loudest roars for Michael Jordan when the Hornets owner was introduced late in the first half.

The Clippers can only hope to discover what kind of reaction Paul might generate Wednesday if he is allowed to play.

Bolch reported from Los Angeles.

Follow Ben Bolch on Twitter @latbbolch