In Seattle, a bevy of big names, including Portland Trail Blazers star guard Damian Lillard, made their preseason debuts before a sold-out crowd in just the second preseason game between NBA teams in the Emerald City since the departure of the SuperSonics for Oklahoma City. Lillard played his first game since missing the final 47 games last season after having abdominal surgery. He finished with 16 points, three rebounds, two assists and a steal in 23 minutes. He made 5 of 13 shots, including three of his eight 3-point attempts. While there were Clippers and Blazers fans in attendance, the prominent color was overwhelmingly green and gold amid constant hope that some day the Sonics will return. The fans that showed up were treated to Los Angeles Clippers star forward Kawhi Leonard’s first action since injuring his knee during the 2021 Western Conference semifinals. Leonard looked just fine, knocking down his first shot 15 seconds into the game and scored 11 points in 16 minutes in the first half. John Wall also made his debut with the Clippers after the five-time All-Star did not play last season. Wall scored five points in 11 minutes and George added 12 points in 16 minutes. All three played just the first half. The royalty of Seattle basketball turned out, including Lenny Wilkens, Shawn Kemp, Gary Payton, Jamal Crawford, George Karl, Detlef Schrempf, Sam Perkins and many others connected to the city’s hoops history. Clippers owner Steve Ballmer grabbed the microphone before tipoff and thanked his hometown for turning out. “I watched thousands of basketball games in Seattle — CYO, little kids, AAU, pro, college, you name it. So if this is a basketball city, damnit, let’s hear it,” Ballmer screamed right before tipoff, eliciting huge cheers from the crowd. READ MORE: https://www.kgw.com/article/sports/nba/blazers/blazers-sonics-rivalry-a-look-back/283-e81ce53c-9996-43e6-b317-c789ee8d0ea4 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/c/KGWNews8 Watch the latest KGW newscast: https://www.kgw.com/watch Get the KGW app: https://kgw.com/appredirect