The Clippers open their new home with a tough loss to the Phoenix Suns

The show began Wednesday night with Clippers owner Steve Ballmer standing with fans on the east side of his palace called the Intuit Dome in an area called “The Wall.” Ballmer danced frenetically with fans in his $2 billion venue before taking the microphone.

“Welcome home, Clippers Nation,” Ballmer bellowed.

In fact, this is the Clippers' new home after spending 25 years at the Staples Center/Crypto.com Arena, sharing it with the NHL's Lakers and Kings.

It was the Clippers' first regular-season game in Inglewood and it took place without their biggest star, Kawhi Leonard, who missed the game due to recurring inflammation in his right knee. In addition, their second best player was missing, Paul George, who moved to the Philadelphia 76ers in the summer.

So it was down to Clippers coach Tyronn Lue, star James Harden and a defense they had bragged about being king all preseason.

The curtain finally fell on the Clippers after they failed to deliver in the final period and lost a game 116-113 to the Suns in overtime.

Harden had 29 points but was just 10 of 28 from the field and finished the game without a key free throw and had eight turnovers.

Harden missed the second of two free throws with 4.8 seconds left, leaving the Clippers behind by a point in the additional five minutes of play.

After Jusuf Nurkic made two free throws to give the Suns a three-point lead, Harden failed to handle an inbounds pass from Amir Coffey, leading to another turnover and the end of the game.

Lue described the game against the Suns in his own building as a “big day for Clippers basketball.”

“I’m really happy for our fans, happy for our players, happy for the organization,” Lue said. “And you see, the arena speaks for itself. There is nothing better in the world.”

When asked for an update on Leonard, Lue said it was the same as last week when the Clippers said the All-Star forward would be out indefinitely but had made “progress.”

“He’s feeling pretty good, he’s doing better,” Lue said. “Just checking all the boxes, but he’s making progress and feeling pretty good.”

The Clippers' James Harden is introduced before Wednesday's game at the Intuit Dome.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Leonard was a force for the Clippers last season, playing in 68 games, the most in his five years with the Clippers. He averaged 23.7 points per game and 6.1 rebounds, a team-high. He shot 52.5% from the floor and 41.7% from three-point range.

That's what the Clippers are missing.

“If Kawhi is out, you lose the top defender, you lose the ability to score points — 25, 26 points a night,” Lue said. “You lose a guy who demands a double team most nights. So we just had to figure out how to play fast, play freely, get into space but not dribble too much – I mean, dribble happily. So we will miss a lot of his skills on the floor, but we have to make up for it together.”