Another blowout for the Los Angeles Clippers, and this time, at the hands of OKC. The Thunder exploded in the third quarter to not only come back, but destroy the Clippers 116-98.
Former Clipper Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 29 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists while Jalen Williams had 18 points and was a +33 on the night.
This top-seeded Thunder team looked out of sorts in the first half, with the Clippers building up a 16 point lead early.
Then, that lethal defense from Oklahoma City emerged in the second half, stifling the Clippers without James Harden, who was out on Thursday with groin soreness.
Amir Coffey stepped into the starting five for Harden and had a fantastic 26 points on 6/8 from three.
19PTS (so far) for Amir Coffey ☕️👏 pic.twitter.com/oWE5eIhrI6
— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) January 3, 2025
But outside of Coffey, it was a dreary night for the Clipper offense, as nobody else reached the 20-point threshold.
Norm Powell was suffocated by Thunder defenders, and doubled or trapped in most cases, leaving him with only 6 points on 1/11 shooting.
If there are silver linings, it would be with some of the players on the bench unit.
we'll take Mo' of this please ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/nVp6EEYzOy
— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) January 3, 2025
Mo Bamba had his best game as a Clipper, scoring 12 points on 5/6 shooting and 2/3 from 3. Jordan Miller finally had a bounce back effort, scoring 10 points in 23 minutes on 4/8 shooting and was a +5.
These games will happen for the Clippers, and right now, they look sluggish and out of sorts.
They have gotten more rest, but now returning back home, with the looming return of Kawhi Leonard still to be announced, there should be an extra jolt for Saturday’s matchup with the Atlanta Hawks.
Tipoff is set for 7:30 PM PST at Intuit Dome.