INGLEWOOD — His first shot was a 3-pointer from the left side. He then found Norman Powell in the corner for his first assist and followed with a miss from six feet out.

And with that, Kawhi Leonard’s comeback was officially rolling.

Leonard made his season debut Saturday in a 131-105 victory against the Atlanta Hawks at Intuit Dome after missing the first 34 games. And while it wasn’t all perfect, it was both a start and an end to a long road back from troubling knee issues.

Leonard, who was greeted by the near-sellout crowd with a loud ovation, finished his first game in 10 months with 12 points on 4-of-11 shooting, three rebounds and one assist in 19 minutes.

Leonard had said that his plan was to be ready for opening night, but the inflammation in his right knee never truly ceased after flaring up March 31 against the Charlotte Hornets. He sat out the final eight regular games last season and appeared in only two games of the Clippers’ 4-2 first-round playoff elimination series against Dallas.

Leonard’s knee problems kept him off the Olympic team and forced him to sit on the bench in street clothes for the first two-plus months of this season. Coach Tyronn Lue and the rest of the team was understandably excited to see the two-time NBA champion back in uniform.

“Just having a player like Kawhi back on the floor, that’s the exciting thing,” Lue said. “The challenge he poses is just having him be on the minutes restriction, how he’s going to play the minutes, guys who are going to play shorter minutes now, or who you’re going to keep or take out of the rotation. That’s the hard part.”

Lue started Leonard in place of Derrick Jones Jr., keeping Kris Dunn in the starting lineup. Jones Jr. and scored 12 off the bench.

Norman Powell got back on track after a 1-for-11 performance in the previous game and scored a team-high 20 points and had four rebounds. Ivica Zubac added 18 points and 18 rebounds, while James Harden had 10 points and 15 assists.