Otherwise, the Clippers cruised from the start in defeating the overwhelmed Pelicans, 108-76, at Staples Center.
Four of the five Clippers starters scored in double figures in a game in which Los Angeles gave up a season-low in points.
Chris Paul led the Clippers with 21 points on seven-for-11 shooting and had eight assists.
Blake Griffin had 20 points and five rebounds.
Darren Collison, who started in the backcourt with Paul because Jamal Crawford was out with a strained left calf, had 15 points.
Matt Barnes had 14 points on five-for-nine shooting, four for eight on three-pointers.
Center DeAndre Jordan was the only starter who didn't score in double figures. But Jordan had 12 rebounds and four blocked shots to go along with his seven points.
Granger, the free-agent small forward the Clippers signed to a contract Friday, didn't play because he wasn't on the active list due to a clerical error.
NBA rules state that every player on the roster that is active for that night's game has to have a circle placed around his number, 1 through 13.
The Clippers didn't place a circle around Granger's number, and that made him inactive.
The situation became more complicated than it should have because the NBA didn't add Granger's name to the Clippers' roster before the game, and the team had to manually add his name to the list that has to be submitted to the official scorer 60 minutes before tipoff.
Granger was pulled off the court during warmups.
That didn't stop the Clippers from running over the Pelicans from the start.
The Clippers opened a 17-point lead in the first quarter, but saw it cut to eight points early in the second.
Paul and Griffin came back into the game and things changed immediately.
The Clippers went on a 13-0 run to open a 21-point lead that settled into a 51-36 margin at the half.
Paul had nine of the points during the 13-0 run.
The Clippers were not only facing a Pelicans team that was playing on back-to-back nights, but they were playing a New Orleans team that has the fourth-worst record (23-36) in the Western Conference and has lost seven consecutive games.
Anthony Davis, the Pelicans' All-Star center, was in foul trouble most of the game and scored only eight points. Eric Gordon was one for 13 from the field.
Etc.
Crawford missed his first game of the season and probably will be sidelined two more games with the left calf injury that he suffered Wednesday night against the Houston Rockets. Crawford said he was praying that the injury wasn't more serious.
"I'm just thankful and blessed that it wasn't anything more serious," Crawford said. "I was nervous [when it happened] because I felt a pop. I'd never experience anything like that.
It turns out the "personal reasons" for Clippers Coach Doc Rivers skipping his team's practice Friday were that he flew to Orlando, Fla., to watch his son Spencer play in a high school state tournament Friday night. Spencer Rivers' Winter Park High team won the game to advance to the state finals. Doc Rivers returned in time for the Clippers' game Saturday night.
broderick.turner@latimes.com
Twitter: @BA_Turner
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