The Oklahoma City Thunder (22-17) have won a quick game at the Los Angeles Clippers (17-20). In the 127:117 victory, OKC’s Big Three shone brightly, while the clips could rely on their Big Men for a long time. Milos Teodosic, however, remains a troubled child.
Both teams were immediately in rhythm and looked for a quick conclusion. The Clippers were able to rely on their Big Men: Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan used their athletic advantages in the frontcourt and stuffed the spalding through the reuse again and again. The duo was responsible for 23 out of 33 Clippers points in the first quarter, while Carmelo Anthony scored the offense on the other side, holding his team in play.
Due to a few defensive dropouts, the guests fell behind in the second quarter with a double-digit loss, but corrected this immediately. Thanks to Paul George, who scored several times from downtown, and an energetic Russell Westbrook, who kept on boosting the fast-break, a tie was made at halftime (64:64).
Clippers vs. Thunder: This way to the BOXSCORE!
PG-13 had preserved his hot hand in the halftime cabin and was on the spot with further hits, which put the guests in front for the first time. But the clips were not impressed by that and stayed on. In addition, the Thunders were weakened by Anthony’s fifth foul. Thus it went with a 97:94 Clippers guidance into the final section.
But the lead didn’t last long. Since Milos Teodosic had to go down early with new problems at the heel, it was too much of an improvisation in L. A.’s offense. As a result, the hosts were unable to respond to OKC’s small runs, while Westbrook had a triple double account and controlled the game at will. In the end, he led his team to a commanding away win.
Behind his name were 29 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists in the statistics sheet, George was top scorer of the game with 31 points, Melo (9/22 FG) scored 22 points. Terrance Ferguson (11 points) was again a good substitute for the injured Andre Roberson (problems on the patellar tendon) in the Starting Five. On the other side Jordan played 26 points and 17 rebounds, Griffin scored 24 points with 9 boards and 7 assists.
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Paul George. He caught an extremely efficient evening and used the space that Westbrook’s creations created for him. He met 12 of his 16 litters and 5 of his 8 threes. In addition, he successfully took on the role of ball handler in some phases in which Westbrook was not on the field.
Actually, you can’t blame the Clipper – once again they got the best out of their situation, but the opponent was simply too strong. Only Jawun Evans remained with 4 points (2/8 FG) in 23 minutes under his possibilities.
Billy Donovan left Paul George on the field with the Second Unit for a few minutes to let him act as the primary ball handler. That worked well. In addition, George was able to gain self-confidence as a leader on the field through successful actions and thus met the catch-and-shoot deals that sprang out during the joint season with Westbrook. Also positive: Westbrook confirmed the latest trend and took only 2 threes.