The Oklahoma City Thunder failed to complete the season series sweep against the LA Clippers in a 127-105 loss.
Thanks to Kawhi Leonard going supernova with 32 points on 15 shots, the Clippers won their first game against the Thunder this season after three consecutive losses.
“We didn’t execute well enough. Weren’t physical enough. Especially throughout the game,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “… So turn the page and we have another opportunity tomorrow.”
The final score suggests this was a blowout loss, but the Thunder were in it for the majority of the game.
With the Thunder trailing 80-78 with 2:13 left in the third quarter, the Clippers went on a 34-11 run to blow the game open. The Clippers’ largest lead in the win was 28 points.
The Clippers scored efficiently — going 47-of-84 (56%) from the field and 18-of-37 (48.6%) from 3. A much better night compared to the Thunder, who shot 41-of-93 (44.1%) from the field and a poor 13-of-39 (33.3%) from 3.
“We had our moments. We had good possessions on both ends of the floor,” Daigneault said. “There’s a reason why we were in the game for almost three quarters. I think they had that flurry that got it to like 11 or 12 (points) at the end of the third but it was a pretty close game until then.”
Leonard and Russell Westbrook led the way as Paul George sat out with a knee sprain he suffered in the first game of this mini-series on Tuesday.
Leonard’s night included a strong start: 15 first-quarter points on 7-of-7 shooting. Westbrook was the Clippers’ second-best player. He finished with 24 points on 8-of-13 shooting and seven assists against his former team.
Meanwhile, outside of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder struggled to score. Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 30 points while the other four Thunder starters combined to score 45 points.
The Clippers enjoyed a significant bench advantage; their reserves outscored the Thunder, 51-30. The bench trio of Bones Hyland (16), Terence Mann (14) and Nicolas Batum (12) scored double-digit points. Meanwhile, the Thunder’s leading scorer off the bench was Ousmane Dieng with nine points.
Credit to the Clippers; they desperately needed this win to avoid falling into the play-in tournament race. Every win matters — even more now that George will likely miss the remainder of the regular season.
Leonard was phenomenal and set the mood early in this game as he was a perfect 9-of-9 from the midrange and 10-of-11 overall from two-pointers. Westbrook also had a much better outing against the Thunder this time around.
Meanwhile, the Thunder failed to win their fourth consecutive game against the Clippers and will need to quickly move on as they play a critical game against the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday.
“The good thing is 24 hours from now we get to go again,” Josh Giddey said. “It’s another good team so we’ll put this one in the past, wake up tomorrow and get ready for LA tomorrow.”
Let’s take a look at Thunder player grades.