According to coach Ty Lue, Rajon Rondo will make his LA Clippers debut against the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.
The Clippers acquired Rondo from Atlanta in a deal involving Lou Williams on March 25.
Both teams do not have key players. The Lakers are without LeBron James and Anthony Davis due to injuries. And Lue didn’t think guard Patrick Beverley (knee) could turn around and join Rondo on the floor. Beverley missed the last 11 games due to injury. The starting center, Serge Ibaka, was also out of the last 10 games, with a back injury.
Rondo won a championship last season with the Lakers and will now participate in the Los Angeles rivalry, on the other hand, with the Clippers.
“It’s different,” Rondo said of the Clippers game in rivalry recently in an interview with Rachel Nichols of ESPN. “It’s a rivalry here in Los Angeles. But for the most part, I’ve got a lot of ‘welcome back.’ It’s different to come back to Los Angeles to be champion.”
Overwhelmed by an adductor injury, Rondo constantly worked to learn Clippers’ playing card while resting.
“Just some kind of connection to him, just seeing what he’s up to,” Lue said of what he hopes to see from Rondo. “It’s easy to go through the pieces in practice, but then you have a game on the go, it’s a little different. And I know how smart it is. Just seeing what’s taking over and just seeing what we can incorporate while it’s in play and just trying to get out of there “It’ll be good to see him get on the floor.”