OKLAHOMA CITY — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leads the Thunder to a dominant second half in a 129-107 victory over the Clippers.
After leading 61-59 at halftime, The Thunder outscored the Clippers 68-48 in the second half.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points and grabbed 8 rebounds while shooting 12/19 from the floor.
“We had a lot of possessions and plays where we didn’t make the right play,” Coach Ty Lue said. “So they were able to get blocked shots and turnovers.”
The Thunder were much more active on defense as they collected 11 blocks and 9 steals. In comparison, the Clippers only had 3 blocks and 6 steals.
In the loss, Kawhi Leonard was very efficient, scoring 20 points on 75% shooting from the field. However the cohesive shooting couldn’t be said about the rest of the Clippers.
The shooting of three pointers and overall field goals was over 10% better for the Thunder . The Thunder shot 48.6% from three and 55.6% from the floor. The Clippers only shot 37.5% from three and 45.2% on total field goals.
Key players in Lu Dortz and Jalen Williams also helped with the efficiency as they both shot over 50% from the field. Dortz scored 19 points on 8/13 shooting, while Williams had 18 points on 7/13 shooting.
In the battle for the second seed, the Clippers fell short and remain at the third seed. The Clippers have dropped to 36-18 record and are only a half a game above the four seed.
Tomorrow night, The Clippers will head to Memphis and try to bounce against the 20-36 Grizzlies. A win is vital for the Clippers as it will keep them from dropping to the fourth seed in Western Conference.
