As Portland Trail Blazers roll Los Angeles Lakers, a protege outplays his old mentor

LOS ANGELES — Deni Avdija had another 20-point night, Jrue Holiday drew praise from the opposing coach for his two-way dominance and the Portland Trail Blazers’ incessant pressure wreaked havoc yet again.

But after watching his team dismiss the shorthanded Los Angeles Lakers Monday night at Crypto.com Arena, Blazers interim coach Tiago Splitter couldn’t help but marvel at the performance of another player, a performance, he says, that stood out above all others.

“I think, lowkey, Donovan (Clingan) was great tonight,” Splitter said after the Blazers breezed past the Lakers 122-108 to earn their first road win of the season. “He protected the rim. He got seven offensive rebounds. He got a lot of second chances for us, (had) 14 rebounds total. He was awesome.”

The superb play started almost immediately, 42 seconds after he outdueled old friend Deandre Ayton for the opening tip, when Clingan skied near the basket and swatted away Jake LaRavia’s driving layup attempt off the glass. And it didn’t let up the rest of the night, as the second-year center owned the glass, protected the paint, cleaned up teammates’ misses and provided a last-line of defense for the Blazers’ swarming full-court press.

When it was all said and done, the 7-foot-2 bulldog had logged season highs in points (16), rebounds (14) and field goals (eight), while adding two blocks and two assists. He recorded his first double-double of the season, made 8 of 12 shots and finished with an impressive plus/minus of plus-21.

“If we didn’t have DC, we’d be a very different team,” Blazers forward Toumani Camara said. “We just have a lot of trust in him, even though he’s really young. And his ability to protect the rim and his competitive mindset, I think, is so important and really what I love about his game.”

Lost in the Blazers’ ludicrously fast pace of play, baseline-to-baseline defense, depth and recent off-the-court drama is that Clingan has quietly excelled through four games. After spending the offseason overhauling his physique and working to get in the best shape of his life — all in an effort to survive the Blazers’ new fast-paced schemes — Clingan has enjoyed the spoils of his hard work.

He’s averaging 11.8 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.3 blocks per game.

Clingan’s not the flashiest Blazers player, and he doesn’t elicit the most highlight-reel moments. But ask around the Blazers’ locker room, and Clingan’s teammates will tell you his underrated contributions and general sacrifice have been invaluable.

“I think that he impacts our team and doesn’t get credit for it,” Holiday said. “The way that he protects the paint. The way he controlled the paint and went at Ayton. He did it on the offensive end, getting offensive rebounds. And, defensively, we know Ayton can hit those shots, but when it gets to him trying to make buckets at the basket, I really feel like Cling really cleaned that up.”

Ah, yes, Ayton.

That Clingan’s best game of the season came against his old mentor, well, that was an added bonus. Clingan mostly downplayed the reunion, but after a little prodding, he finally acknowledged carrying a little extra juice into their first matchup as opponents.

There was no playful pregame trash talk via text, no friendly banter among old friends. They briefly said “What’s up?” and exchanged a hug before the opening tip, then went to work.

Ayton finished with 16 points and eight rebounds, but he committed three turnovers, spent plenty of time in the first half complaining to officials about his early foul trouble and did most of his damage on midrange jumpers. For the most part, Clingan kept Ayton out of the lane and neutralized him whenever he managed to bully inside — Ayton made just 2 of 5 shots in the paint.

Afterward, Clingan praised the man who nurtured and tutored him throughout his rookie season, crediting Ayton for sharing wisdom about everything from rebound positioning to running the floor to communication.

It was just one of three times the former teammates will meet this season. But after outplaying his mentor in their first game as opponents, Clingan couldn’t help but walk away from the visiting locker room at Crypto.com Arena wearing an oversized grin.

“I love DA,” Clingan said. “He helped me so much my rookie year getting me adapted to this game. And I’ve got a lot of respect for him and love for him. It was cool going out there playing against him tonight.”