3 takeaways: Gilgeous-Alexander scores 30 but Thunder lose to Clippers
The Oklahoma City Thunder got a reminder on Friday just how hard it is to take on a team with two superstars and a rotation full of depth.
The Los Angeles Clippers led OKC by as many as 27 points in the first half before closing out the game and handing the Thunder a 120-106 defeat.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 30 points, on 11-for-20 shooting. Paul George and Kawhi Leonard combined for 60 points.
Oklahoma City mounted a comeback in the third, cutting the lead to 10 with 3:27 remaining in the quarter, but the Clippers built it back up and OKC couldn’t get closer.
There’s logic in being pleased that the Thunder hung in, outscored L.A. over the final three quarters and forced the Clippers’ starters to stay in during the fourth quarter and make sure they sealed it. But the fact of the matter is, OKC trailed by double-digits for 40 minutes. It wasn’t good.
Then the comeback attempt failed in a disappointing way, with the Thunder picking up five fouls in three minutes to start the fourth.
They’ve now lost four of their last five games by double-digit points and have started to look more like the rebuilding team that was expected than the .500 team they were a week ago.
Here are three takeaways from the Thunder’s loss.
Defense was frazzled in first half
The Clippers didn't have trouble breaking through the Thunder defense in the first half. They found mismatches, attacked swiftly, and OKC was frequently out of position with the wrong defenders on the wrong guys. Some trap defense would allow a passing lane. Pressing up gave the ball handler a chance to drive. A pick here, a cut there, and suddenly you find rookie guard Theo Maledon deep under the hoop trying to guard big Serge Ibaka. It wasn't a lack of effort; the Clippers moved fluidly, passed well, and when you have a pair of superstars in George and Leonard, it's hard to stop. Oklahoma City actually outscored the Clippers by four over the final three quarters, but in allowing 70 first-half points, the Thunder were disadvantaged in the second half. "It was kind of a landslide there early in the game ... we didn't lay down," head coach Mark Daigneault said. "I thought we course-corrected that and played pretty well after that first little flurry."
SGA likes playing against the Clippers
Last season, Gilgeous-Alexander had a 32-point performance against his former team. On Friday, he scored 30 points in a variety of ways. "He was good at getting where he wanted," Daigneault said. "He played with great pace as well. They were switching him, which gave him some isolation plays, but it's not like he stopped the ball. He kind of played in the flow of the team." He was elite inside, using his length to find crafty, difficult finishes. He made several shots from inside the restricted area around bigger defenders. "When I'm in that mode, it's easier on [my teammates] to play on the closeouts and stuff like that," Gilgeous-Alexander said. I mean, how do you stop this? https://twitter.com/ThunderFilmRoom/status/1352827389827567616 From deep, Gilgeous-Alexander shot 2-for-5, and both 3s were on step-backs. This looks like a skill he's improving in as well. Here he is against Ibaka again, but this time pulling back: https://twitter.com/ThunderFilmRoom/status/1352829256947167233 This is the seventh 30-point game of his career and it came with star defends in Leonard and George guarding him at times. He's a stud.
Fouls
Last season, Oklahoma City committed the fourth-fewest fouls per game. Through 13 games this year, they actually averaged fewer, picking up 19.0 per game compared to 19.3 last season. Against the Clippers, they committed 21, which isn't necessarily bad, but it felt like a whole lot more because of the bad timing. As the Thunder tried to bring that third-quarter comeback into the fourth, they ruined it for themselves in less than three minutes. It took only 2:53 for the Thunder to commit five fouls in the fourth quarter, putting the Clippers in the bonus for the rest of the game. You're not going to come back from a double-digit deficit when your opponent has 10 full minutes of getting to the line for any foul committed. The Clippers made them, too, finishing the game 24-of-25 from the line. By the time Los Angeles reached 22 made free throws, Oklahoma City had made four on six attempts. They finished 10-for-13. In general, the Clippers dominated down low as they drew fouls, out-rebounded the Thunder 48-29 (with a 9-4 offensive rebound discrepancy in favor of L.A.) and slightly outscored OKC in the paint, by a margin of 56-52. "With our coverages on ball screens, we can be sharper. Rebounding, we can be better," backup big Mike Muscala said. "I think those are two areas that we can clean up and watch the film on." The Thunder couldn't handle the Clippers on Friday. They'll have a day and a half to prepare for the rematch.
