Tag: l.a. clippers

Player grades: Thunder can’t complete season sweep in 127-105 loss to Clippers

Player grades for the Thunder’s 127-105 loss to the Clippers on Thursday.

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.

Thunder vs. Clippers: Lineups, injury reports and broadcast info for Thursday

Thunder at Clippers: How to watch, lineups, injury reports and broadcast for Thursday.

The Oklahoma City Thunder play the LA Clippers on Thursday, and if you’re wondering how you can watch the action live, you’ve come to the right place.

The Thunder (36-36) finally reached .500 following a thrilling 101-100 win over the Clippers (38-35). With the massive win, the Thunder are a half-game out of sixth place, the last position that avoids the play-in tournament altogether.

In this second consecutive matchup between both teams, the Clippers will be without Paul George, who suffered a knee sprain in the first game. The Thunder look to complete the four-game season series sweep.

NBA Twitter: The best tweets about Lu Dort’s stop on Kawhi Leonard in 101-100 win

Here are the best tweets from Lu Dort’s stop on Kawhi Leonard to seal the 101-100 win over the Clipper.

In what could potentially go down as the season-defining possession of the season, Lu Dort fought threw several screens to get the final stop on Kawhi Leonard in a 101-100 win.

The win puts the Oklahoma City Thunder (36-36) back to .500 and gives them the tiebreaker over the LA Clippers, who are 0-3 against OKC this season.

The defensive stop, which was 21 seconds of pure defensive talent, saw Leonard not even get off a shot in time.  It was the buzz on NBA Twitter following the win.

Let’s look at some of the best tweets about the final 21 seconds of the game as Dort locked up Leonard.

PHOTOS: Best images from the Thunder’s 101-100 win over the Clippers

The best photos from the Thunder’s 101-100 win over the Clippers on Tuesday.

The Oklahoma City Thunder finally broke even with their record and reached .500 status following a 101-100 win over the LA Clippers on Tuesday.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander headlined the win with 31 points on 12-of-25 shooting, seven rebounds and four assists. Jalen Williams also added 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting and eight rebounds.

But Lu Dort stole the spotlight when he held Kawhi Leonard scoreless in the final 21 seconds of the game. For the Clippers, this loss stings even more because Paul George suffered a leg injury in the fourth quarter. George’s status is currently unknown.

Let’s look at some of the best photos from the Thunder’s one-point win over the Clippers.

Player grades: Thunder escapes with critical 101-100 win over Clippers

Player grades for the Thunder’s 101-100 win over the Clippers.

With the final 21 seconds winding down, Kawhi Leonard had a chance to hit the game-winning basket. Trailing by one point, Leonard took the ball and let the fate of the game be decided by his hands.

Instead, what transpired was a 21-second defensive masterclass by Lu Dort, who shut down the opposition’s best player and forced a bad miss that wouldn’t have counted even if it had gone in. Leonard couldn’t shake Dort on the final possession of the game despite several screen attempts.

Dort was locked into his matchup with Leonard and was going to fight over every screen the Clippers set. He wanted the game to come down to his defense.

The tireless stop forced Leonard to throw up a heave milliseconds after the final buzzer sounded. For 21.2 seconds, Dort mirrored every Leonard move.

In a critical game with massive playoff ramifications, the Oklahoma City Thunder won the first of two consecutive games against the LA Clippers, 101-100. The win also helped the Thunder reach .500 for the first time this season since starting 4-4.

“That’s why we love him,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said on Dort’s stop. “He’s some player and some competitor and he rises in those types of situations.”

What was going through Dort’s mind in those final 21 seconds that must’ve felt like an eternity?

“Just get a stop,” Dort said following the win. “Kawhi had a good game. He had it going. I knew the ball was going to be in his hand at the end of the game so I just had to get a stop.”

A slow start saw the Thunder trail the Clippers 18-4, but after that opening punch, it was a more competitive, back-and-forth matchup the rest of the way. The Thunder responded with a 19-4 run of their own to conclude the wild first quarter with a 23-22 lead.

After falling behind, 18-4, the Thunder outscored the Clippers, 52-33, the rest of the way in the first half. At halftime, the Thunder held a five-point lead.

The Clippers made it interesting in the second half; they outscored the Thunder, 49-45, but the Thunder held on for the road victory.

If you prefer high-scoring affairs, this game wasn’t for you. The Thunder shot 39-of-93 (41.9%) from the field and 10-of-37 (27%) from 3. The Clippers shot better overall, 41-of-86 (47.7%), but were equally ugly from 3 at 6-of-31 (19.4%) shooting.

The Thunder were led by the duo of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams, who combined to score 51 points on 20-of-40 shooting from the field.

Meanwhile, the Clippers were led by their star duo of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. Leonard finished with 21 points on 7-of-16 shooting, six rebounds and five assists. George had 18 points on 9-of-17 shooting before leaving in the fourth quarter due to a leg injury.

Former Thunder guard Russell Westbrook also contributed for the Clippers as he finished with 15 points and eight rebounds. Westbrook also played admirable defense against Gilgeous-Alexander during stretches of the game.

Following George’s injury, the Thunder went on a 6-2 run to grab a 97-93 lead with under three minutes to go.

This was a massive, massive win for the Thunder to kick off this season-defining four-game road trip. With the win, the Thunder are now just half a game back from the sixth seed — which means there’s a very real possibility OKC skips the Play-In tournament entirely.

The Thunder will only have a short period of time to celebrate their third consecutive win against the Clippers as they play them once again on Thursday.

It will be the final game of the four-game season series between the teams. George’s availability for the game is unknown; he needed help to exit the court.

Obviously, if George misses a significant amount of time, it could cause a huge ripple effect for both this season and beyond depending on the severity of the injury.

“Sending the whole team and organization thoughts to Paul George,” Daigneault said. “He was here. Great person. We hope he’s OK.”

Let’s take a look at Thunder player grades.

Thunder vs. Clippers: Lineups, injury reports and broadcast info for Tuesday

Thunder at Clippers: How to watch, lineups, injury reports and broadcast for Tuesday.

The Oklahoma City Thunder play the LA Clippers on Tuesday, and if you’re wondering how you can watch the action live, you’ve come to the right place.

The Thunder (35-36) will have another chance to reach an elusive .500 record in a matchup against the Clippers (38-34). In their last game, the Thunder came away with a comeback win against the Phoenix Suns.

Besides trying to break even with their record, the Thunder also need to keep up in the tight Western Conference standings. The Thunder only have a 0.5-game lead over 11th place.

Meanwhile, the Clippers try to avoid the Play-In tournament as they only have a two-game advantage over the seventh seed.

Paul George is excited to mentor Bones Hyland: ‘We’re going to open our arms’

“He’s coming into a situation with a lot of great veterans that can help him and mentor him.”

Paul George will represent the L.A. Clippers at the 2023 NBA All-Star Game in Salt Lake City, Utah.

This will be the eighth All-Star appearance for George, who has 23.3 points to go with 6.2 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game. The Clippers (31-28) are three games above .500 and just two and a half games back of the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference.

George’s Clippers made some significant changes at the NBA trade deadline, acquiring Mason Plumlee and Eric Gordon as well as Bones Hyland. The 32-year-old wing spoke to For The Win about these recent transactions and how it impacts their pursuit of a championship.

He also caught up with us about his plans for All-Star Weekend in Utah.

George spoke about his upcoming partnership with AT&T. He and Vince Carter will star in AT&T’s Playmaker Arcade VR game, which allows fans onsite at NBA Crossover to turn themselves into a 360 avatar while fans at home can play along through a web version of the game.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity. 

Bones Hyland was told the Clippers were going to draft him, and now he finally gets to play there

Bones Hyland: “The Clippers told my agent that they was going to pick me.”

The Denver Nuggets have traded Bones Hyland to the L.A. Clippers.

Hyland, 22, is an exciting young scoring guard who made NBA All-Rookie Second-Team last season. Now in his second professional season, he is now averaging 12.1 points and 3.0 assists per game. He is shooting 37.8 percent on 3-pointers.

While he was originally drafted by the Nuggets, the former VCU standout initially expected to get selected by the Clippers in the 2021 NBA Draft.

Here is what Hyland explained to former NBA player JJ Redick when he was a guest on his podcast (via The Old Man and the Three):

“Two weeks before I was supposed to come out here [to Denver] for a draft workout and I told them no … I rolled my ankle … My range was like 15 to 23 or something like that. I was like, ‘Yeah, it’s over for Denver. I ain’t going out there.’ And the Clippers told my agent that they was going to pick me … They told me they were going to take me. So I’m like, ‘Yeah. I’m going to the Clippers.’”

You can watch the clip below, which begins around the 44-minute mark:

This was fascinating insight from Hyland, who finally gets to play in Los Angeles.

The Clippers originally had the No. 25 pick but traded it to the Knicks in order to move up and select Keon Johnson at No. 21 overall. Hyland was then selected by Denver at No. 26 overall.

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The Nets won’t get much in a trade for Kyrie Irving due to ‘reluctance’ over star’s value

The Lakers would want Kyrie for ‘basically next to nothing’ if they want him at all.

Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving has reportedly requested a trade, but we may not see a typical market in pursuit of the All-Star starter.

Irving would probably improve nearly every backcourt in the league. But despite all of his talent on the court, don’t expect many teams to jump at the opportunity to surrender much in order to acquire the one-time NBA champion.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, there is a “reluctance” to make “significant offers of assets” in order to land the All-Star guard. He also added that the Nets aren’t going to get “overwhelming offers” and they likely won’t get “a haul” in exchange for Irving. He thinks that there will only be a “small” marketplace.

There are several reasons why the Nets might not fetch much back in a trade for Irving. Not only will the 30-year-old Brooklyn guard become a free agent this offseason, but additionally, he has not proven himself to be reliable.

Irving, who refused to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and promoted antisemitic books and movies on his social media accounts, isn’t going to make a front office jump at the opportunity to trade for him and offer him a lucrative contract extension. Per Woj:

“No teams are privately expressing a desire to make that investment into Irving, especially after the turbulence of an eight-game suspension for failing to initially rebuke an antisemitic film shared to his social media platform.”

Additionally, due to the fact that Irving becomes a free agent this offseason, if any team did actually have interest, they could potentially just sign him outright rather than give up an asset at the deadline.

Back in June 2022, when he sought a sign-and-trade during free agency but ultimately just instead signed a one-year deal with the Nets, there were “no known teams” outside the Lakers who were interested in a sign-and-trade for Irving.

If there was an interest in him from any other team in the league, the Nets would have blown it up when they had the chance and he would already be there.

That was when the pursuing team could have at least had a full season with Irving. Now, any team that trades for Irving will only have him on the books until the season is over.

During the offseason, the Lakers had the most reported interest in Irving.

Now, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, even Los Angeles is “not so sure” about trading for him:

“The Lakers’ position, from what I understand, is that they’ve been interested in trading for Kyrie Irving but they’re not so sure about trading for him and being obligated to giving him a $200 million contract at season’s end. If they could get Kyrie Irving for basically next to nothing, expiring contracts, that would be something they would entertain. But the Nets were not willing to entertain that.”

Further, per Woj, both the Lakers and the Mavericks are “privately expressing limitations” on what they offer for Irving.

Rob Pelinka and the Lakers would take Irving for pennies on the dollar, especially if it means moving on from the Russell Westbrook era. But is he worth giving up their future first-round picks when it’s unclear how long he will be around with the team?

That offer might actually be far more than any other front office would be willing to give. Even though Los Angeles isn’t rich in assets, they could potentially outbid everyone if they seriously want to appease LeBron James.

The Nets don’t have to trade Irving. He can sit out the remainder of the season or he can take a break and come back to the team if and when he is ready.

Either way, the market has likely dried up for Irving and it may not require many assets to land the All-Star guard in a trade before the deadline.

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Drake roasted the Clippers for never winning a ring, but it was such a petty and boring insult

Drake reportedly paid $150K for a custom championship ring.

Drake is the highest-selling singles artist in music history, and yet he is responding to NBA teams on Twitter like he is a casual fan.

The four-time Grammy Award-winning artist attended a game on Tuesday evening between the L.A. Clippers and his beloved hometown team, the Toronto Raptors. Kawhi Leonard and Norman Powell played for the Raptors.

Leonard and Powell won an NBA championship while playing for the Raptors in 2019. Leonard was named NBA Finals MVP and he then signed with the Clippers during the offseason. Powell was traded to the Blazers in 2021, then again traded to Los Angeles last trade deadline.

The Clippers defeated the Raptors, 124-113, but Drake and his son were surprised by Toronto’s mascot with a ton of candy.

After the game, meanwhile, Leonard met up with Leonard and Powell and the Clippers posted photos on Instagram of the interactions.

They captioned it “Kawhi and Norm with a fan” and it was a nice use of a classic joke format. It was a harmless post and one that Drake easily could have ignored.

Drake, however, chose not to ignore it and instead posted that the franchise needs to “win a ring” as his reply. The Clippers have never won an NBA title.

In fairness, meanwhile, the rapper was given an official championship ring when the Raptors won the title in 2019 due to his role as a team ambassador.

Additionally, Drake reportedly spent around $150,000 on a custom championship ring (engraved with “The Boy” on the side) made by celebrity jeweler Jason of Beverly Hills.

Drake, of course, would not have a championship ring if it were not for Leonard — who is now employed by the Clippers. It doesn’t seem fair for the rapper, who has never played professional basketball, to point fingers on this one.

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