Martin Provides Opening Lift

Coach Bill Fitch said guard Darrick Martin provided a spark with 13 points in the Clippers’ opening-night victory.

“He gave us a big lift,” Fitch said. “In that first three minutes he was super. He’s a shot of penicillin when you need it. We haven’t had that little waterbug.

“Pooh [Richardson] had been playing pretty good and a lot of times when you get a guy who’s been playing good and he gets in foul trouble, the guy who comes in doesn’t play as good and half the time you wish that the other guy was back out there. But I didn’t look for Pooh at all.”

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Rookie swingman Lorenzen Wright, the seventh player picked in the NBA draft, struggled in the exhibition season, shooting only 18.2% (four for 22) in seven games, and Fitch held him out of Friday’s victory over Golden State.

“We’re glad we got him,” Fitch said. “We just figured that he’s still a junior in college, and he didn’t get any work this summer because of that broken foot.”

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Swingman Bo Outlaw, the Clippers’ most versatile player, had nine points and eight rebounds in 24 minutes as the Clipper centers outscored the Warrior centers, 19-8. “Bo gives us some center play from somebody other than the centers,” Fitch said. . . . Swingman Eric Piatkowski, held out of the opener by Fitch, entered Saturday night’s game at the start of the second quarter.