Donovan Clingan of the Trail Blazers is fine in his preseason debut

SEATTLE – Portland Trail Blazers rookie center Donovan Clingan’s first shot in an NBA preseason game came from three-point range Friday night against the LA Clippers.

It’s an area where he had only attempted two shots in two seasons at Connecticut.

That’s probably why the Clippers left Clingan wide open at Climate Change Arena.

And he made her pay.

“Feeled good, looked good and hey, it went in,” he said. “I was happy.”

Aside from the end result, he had a lot to be happy about. The Blazers lost 101-99, which wasn’t nearly as relevant as the fact that Clingan didn’t look overwhelmed against an NBA team.

In 19 minutes, Clingan shot 3 of 5 from the field and scored seven points with five rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot.

“I thought it was great to be out there competing against a team other than our guys,” Clingan said. “It felt good. But there are definitely things I could have done better. But it gave me a good feeling for what it’s going to be like this year. And since this is my first game, I’m excited.”

Blazers coach Chauncey Billups said he believes the 7-foot-11 Clingan could have done a better job defensively.

“I thought he was fine,” Billups said. “For me, they scored a little too easily down there.”

Billups blamed some of this on Clingan dropping his hands instead of keeping them up while he was ready to defend and block shots.

“It’s just a bad habit that little kids have,” Billups said.

Clingan agreed.

“Just being able to wall myself in and not foul and maintain my verticality,” he said.

Clingan said he feels like he can handle the physical nature of the NBA well.

“It’s a lot more physical,” he said. “These guys are strong. They are much older.”

According to Clingan, his conditioning work in the offseason paid off.

“I think I handled it pretty well,” he said. “My conditioning feels great. Just up and down the floor, multiple trips. I didn’t really get tired.”

Sophomore point guard Scoot Henderson said Clingan did well on the court.

“Oh yeah, he fit right in,” Henderson said. “Seeing his first shot go in. I hope this was a big confidence boost for him.”

It was. And that also applies to the alley-oop dunk he had later in the game after a pass from Dalano Banton. Clingan liked the way he moved without the ball to create chances.

“I felt like I rolled pretty hard to the edge of the ball screen and quickly got off the ball screen, which opened up threes,” Clingan said. “I just wish I had a few more block shots to protect the edge of those floaters a little bit.”