Column: Clippers are seen in new light in opening win under new owner Ballmer

Fergie wailed. Big Baby smooched. The screams of fans rocked like a roller coaster, up on the leap, down on the dunk, again and again.

The lights were brighter than ever. The music thumped harder than ever. Rocking on the baseline, in checkered shirt and reddened face, an owner roared through the glow.

Welcome to the new Clippers era. Welcome to Ballmer’s House.

In a season opener that resembled a housewarming party , faith and fun filled the air like colorful confetti Thursday night as the Clippers began their first season under new owner Steve Ballmer at Staples Center with a 93-90 victory over star-less Oklahoma City.

The Thunder started without injured Kevin Durant, and finished without injured Russell Westbrook, and yet the Clippers, seemingly overcome by the hoopla, literally fell over each other trying to keep the visitors in the game.

They finally controlled it only when DeAndre Jordan blocked Sebastian Telfair’s runner in the final seconds, and Blake Griffin converted two free throws on the other end, resulting in giant howls of relief.

“It was pretty ugly, but I walked in the locker room and I said, ‘Guys, we won!’’’ said Clippers Coach Doc Rivers afterward with a sweaty smile.

But this was less about a final score as a change in culture.

Beginning with Ballmer’s constantly screaming, gesturing presence just steps from the Clippers bench — he actually cupped his hands over his mouth to shout “Dee-fense!” as if he were a father at a high school game — everything feels different here.

There is real hope here. There is real credibility here. There is no more Donald Sterling here. Check that. Shelly Sterling, the longtime partner and accomplice of the disgraced former Clippers owner, made good on her nauseating promise to sit in her sale-mandated courtside seat.

Thankfully, the Clippers didn’t put her on the big screen. Hopefully, Clippers fans will be too busy watching their team’s acrobatics to ever really notice her. She is one of the last visible monuments to the unprofessional crassness that once ran this organization, an aura that disappeared seemingly from the moment Ballmer bought the team this summer for $2 billion.

“I didn’t think it would be this quick, honestly,’’ said Rivers of the sudden change in ownership and atmosphere. “I was fully aware of it still being in court, I assumed it, I didn’t think there was any way mid-summer that we would be done with all the stuff.’’

Oh, they are done with it all right, way done, the new Clippers presence evident from the moment fans wearing their “Hardcore”’ T-shirts — in honor of one of Ballmer’s mottoes — entered the building.

The new lights, installed by the Staples Center folks for both the Kings and Clippers, cast a brighter shine on the court while darkening the stands. It’s a huge change from the fluorescent shopping mall atmosphere that used to surround this formerly discount team.

You know how the Lakers games, played under a different set of lights, always felt like a cool nightclub? Well, that nightclub suddenly feels old, while this one feels hot.

“I love it, I think it’s great,’’ said Rivers, who actually drove to the big gym this summer to test the lights by pretending he was shooting under them. “I think it’s darker in the crowd a little bit, it looks better on the floor.”

The floor was initially graced Thursday by Fergie, the pop star who nailed the national anthem and then later mouthed a song on the video scoreboard that included the word, “Clippers.’’

That scoreboard also played two Clippers videos that epitomized this team’s attempt at reinventing itself for its loyal fan base. First, there was the serious video featuring black-and-white Clippers images with the phrase, “You want to know who we are? This is who we are.’’ Then there was the video featuring Blake Griffin and Chris Paul irritating each other in a comedy bit.

The Clippers clearly want to be not only relentless — another Ballmer mantra — but also entertaining. That everyone could seemingly have such a good time on a night when the team struggling through its opening-night emotions is evidence that this formula will work here.

Blake Griffin fought through early struggles to score 23 points with seven rebounds, Chris Paul scowled through 22 points and seven assists, yet the crowd also howled when, on the video board, the injured Glen “Big Baby’’ Davis introduced the Kiss Cam with his own giant buss.

Fans jumped to their feet with 3:32 left in the second quarter when the Clippers finally broke loose for this season’s first trademark play, an ally-oop from Paul to Jordan, whose dunk quite perfectly bounced directly in front of Ballmer. Yet the fans also roared when, in the final minutes, Ballmer led cheers on the scoreboard with an intense clapping that was painful to even watch.

Clipper Darrell showed up and fans cheered with him. Adam Silver, the NBA commissioner, showed up and fans applauded in thanks. Even Reggie Bush, the former USC football star whose memories have been stripped from the nearby campus, showed up and was embraced by everyone in sight.

“Opening nights are tough, I don’t know what it was, I know we wanted to win, we just didn’t play great,’’ said Rivers. “The good new is we have 81 more games to fix it.’’

Can’t wait for those 81. A wild opening night. A crazy opening act. Welcome to Ballmer’s house.