After beating the Suns at home, the Thunder continued with a new decisive duel in their quest for the playoffs against the Clippers in Los Angeles. And the young troop of Oklahoma City was once again valiant to win a narrow success (101-100) which puts them in 7th place in the Western Conference, only one victory behind defending champions Golden State.
However, everything had started well for the locals, with an 18-4 at the start of the match. But the Thunder quickly made up ground to give a close game from start to finish. Clumsy in the first half, with a 5/16 on cumulative shots, the Californian duo, George – Leonard, thought they would regain control of operations at the end of the match…
But Paul George, then 18 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, injured his right leg after contact with Lu Dort. Victim of a hyperextension of the right leg, he had to join the locker room without being able to put his foot on the ground, a blow from which his teammates failed to recover.
Despite his current fine form, Kawhi Leonard was unable to get rid of the pot-of-glue defense of Lu Dort who completely prevented the Clippers All-Star from triggering a shot on the final possession!
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
— Paul George’s injury. Like a nice dunk in traffic in the first quarter, then a 360° in the third quarter, he was in good shape. But in the last quarter, on a disputed rebound with Lu Dort, Paul George writhed in pain. The reason ? His right leg was hyperextended on landing. Ouch…
— SGA – Dort, the clutch duo of the Thunder. With 20 of his 31 points scored in the second half, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander once again carried his team offensively in Los Angeles. Over-motivated against his former club, the Canadian “combo guard” from OKC was exemplary at the end of the match, successively playing off Russell Westbrook and Eric Gordon to score the last victorious points for his team. On the other side of the field, Lu Dort was also monstrous, managing to padlock Kawhi Leonard in the last minutes of play, including this final possession to be shown in all basketball schools.
— A setback for the Clippers? Out of five wins in their last six games, the Clippers seemed to be finding some rhythm in recent days. This infuriating defeat, and Paul George’s injury which is even more so, will it deal a bamboo blow to this often cursed franchise? We don’t hope so but the timing is obviously not ideal, just a stone’s throw from the end of the season.
TOPS/FLOPS
✅ Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The All Star leader of the Thunder fully assumed his status with a new performance above the thirties, 31 points plus 7 rebounds and 4 assists. He joins Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant as the only other OKC players to have managed more than 40 games at 30 or more points in a season.
✅ ⛔ Lu sleeps. Extremely clumsy in shooting with 3/11 including 1/8 from afar, Lu Dort was however essential to his team’s victory in defense. Especially at the end of the game. On the other hand, we wonder if he could not have been sanctioned for the injury of Paul George…
✅ ⛔ Kawhi Leonard. As usual, it was expected to come out of its box in hot weather. And it took the way in the second half with a 3rd quarter at 9 points. But Kawhi Leonard was held to only 4 points in the last quarter, in particular because of Lu Dort.
THE FOLLOWING
LA Clippers (38-35) and Oklahoma City (36-36) will play each other again on Thursday.
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