Outside of about a minute and a half at the beginning and end, the Oklahoma City Thunder led the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday. They withstood L.A. runs. They saw Shai Gilgeous-Alexander go off in the third quarter and Josh Giddey provide a major spark in the fourth quarter.
But the Clippers did late what they do best: They made 3s. With just over 2:30 to play in the game, Paul George led Los Angeles to a 9-0 run over a one-minute period by hitting a pair of 3s — contested, too, not due to poor defense — and then assisted a Luke Kennard triple.
The Thunder squandered the lead and the Clippers squeaked out their second victory of the season, knocking out Oklahoma City 99-94.
With Lu Dort out due to injury, head coach Mark Daigneault started both Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Derrick Favors. The closing lineup was Theo Maledon and Mike Muscala alongside starters Giddey, Gilgeous-Alexander and Darius Bazley.
It was a strong effort overall by the Thunder. There’s an argument that it was Oklahoma City’s best two-way performance of the season.
Here are grades from the game.
