“Obviously, we’re missing three of our …

“Obviously, we’re missing three of our best players,” said center DeAndre Jordan, who referenced the absence of Irving (right shoulder impingement) with shooting guard Caris LeVert (right thumb sprain/surgery) and wing Kevin Durant (right Achilles tear/rehab). “Any team would say that sucks, but it gives other guys opportunities, like (wing) David Nwaba, (shooting guard Dzanan) Musa, (forward) Rodi(ons Kurucs), (wing Garrett) Temp(le), myself, (small forward) Theo (Pinson), (shooting guard Iman) Shump(ert). So whenever we do get our full roster back, we will be even better because those guys have experience and are able to jell. It just makes us a better team once when we get everybody back.”