After trailing for most of the night, and by as much as 15 points, the L.A. Clippers (2-4) came back to take down the Oklahoma City Thunder (1-6), 99-94 Monday night. A game in which Paul George was unreal and also got rewarded with the dub, he put up 32 points (11-24 FG, 5-8 3PT, 5-6 FT), nine rebounds, seven assists and three steals in a game-high 40 minutes. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was highly impressive, leading OKC with 28 points (11-23 FG, 3-5 3PT, 3-3 FT), seven rebounds, two assists and two steals. Read on for our full Clippers vs. Thunder game recap.
Summary
If you’re a fan of airballs, turnovers and scoring droughts, the first half of this game was tailor-made for you. The first quarter was painfully more of the same for the Clippers. While the defense continued to be solid, with LAC giving up just 23 points, the offense remained impossible not to feel worried about. Outside of Paul George subbing out with about four minutes left and coming back in to close for the last 70 seconds, the Clippers operated just how they did in their past two contests — generating wide open looks, but having nothing to show for it. Darius Bazley and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored as much as the nine Clippers who checked in on 17 less shots. The leading scorer for the Clippers was Justise Winslow, who had four points on two layups. After one, the Clips trailed 23-14.
It sure wasn’t pretty, or fun, but the Clips scrapped their deficit back into single digits in the second quarter. The two sides matched each other with 15 boards and six turnovers apiece, and the offense was simply subpar on both ends, but LAC ultimately outscored OKC 26-21 in the period on 39.1% shooting compared to the Thunder’s 28.6%. Tyronn Lue had the Clippers go small almost the entire way, and Paul George played the entire stretch without a breather. At the half, the Clippers shot just 15-for-50 (30%) from the field and 3-for-21 from three (14.3%), but trailed just 44-40. Once again, the giant elephant in Staples Center was the combined 4-for-16 shooting from Reggie Jackson and Eric Bledsoe, who continued to put up shot after shot without any rhythm whatsoever.
Alley-oop to Mann!
— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) November 2, 2021@BallySportWest | #ClipperNation pic.twitter.com/HNWfUCgXz7
In the third, the shots started to fall on both sides, but not much ground was able to be made due to Gilgeous-Alexander’s 15-point explosion. For most of the quarter, OKC preserved their lead by capitalizing on the Clippers’ over-aggression — a PG mis-dribble turned clear path foul, a Bledsoe giveaway to an SGA layup, and a frustration PG three-point attempt answered by a loud SGA stepback three. With 3:54 left to go in the third, OKC up nine and the game teetering in the balance, however, Luke Kennard, Paul George and Nicolas Batum salvaged the period with four straight threes to keep the Clippers in it. Heading into the final frame, the Thunder led 74-66.
Back-to-back triples for @LukeKennard5.
— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) November 2, 2021@BallySportWest | #ClipperNation pic.twitter.com/jPw3ZuzPXu
For most of the fourth, it once again felt like the Clippers just didn’t have enough offense outside of George and Kennard, and ultimately, were out of gas. Missing three after three and drive after drive, while OKC’s Théo Maledon, SGA and Josh Giddey made it look easy on their end, the Clippers were dead in the water down 91-82 with 2:44 remaining. What happened next was nothing short of special from PG13. In a span of two-minutes, George hit a size-up three, got a rebound and hit another size-up three, got a piece of an SGA layup without fouling, hit Kennard on the three to tie the game, nailed a right elbow jab-step 10-footer to take the lead, and stripped Bazley on a drive.
Clippers vs. Thunder Game Notes
- MVPG: PG was spectacular, but it is concerning that it took a monster game from him, with just three short breaks, to down OKC. A win’s a win, and surely this dreadful level of shooting from the rest of the team won’t last much longer, but the Clippers truly have to find a better way of easing his work load as the number of games add up.
- The Second Guy(s): It was Luke Kennard, Nicolas Batum, Terance Mann and Reggie Jackson who collectively stepped up as that “second guy” tonight, with each having scoring bursts over the course of the game to give PG some much-needed help. Outside of Batum, who was also great defensively the entire game, tonight really showcased the “do-it-by-committee” nature of how the supporting cast will need to play this season with George as the lone star. Of course, that overall level of support will also need to drastically pick up from where it was tonight when the Clippers take on teams much tougher than OKC.
- Hartenstein Outplays Zu: Although Ty Lue went to his small-ball lineups once again for nearly 10 minutes tonight, it was pretty surprising to see Ivica Zubac playing just the opening shifts of the first and third quarters. Zu didn’t look particularly great tonight, however, and that was reflected strongly in the final box stats as Isaiah Hartenstein tallied over twice as many boards as him and played the majority of the traditional center minutes between the two.
- Up Next: The Clippers will head on the road to begin a two-game mini-series against the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Target Center on Wednesday, Nov. 3 at 5 p.m. PT.
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