INGLEWOOD — Clippers coach Tyronn Lue had less than 24 hours to figure out how to avoid turnovers, the kind of mistakes that led to a disheartening loss the previous night.
His solution was, in theory, simple. He said the Clippers needed to “make the easy pass, the easy play. Instead of making the home run play, take what the defense gives us.” Simple.
And for the first 12 minutes Tuesday night, the game was tantalizingly easy for the Clippers. Then it got hard as the Oklahoma City Thunder turned up the heat, forcing the Clippers to begin turning the ball over and came away with a 126-107 victory to remain the league’s only unbeaten team.
The Thunder’s eighth straight victory was in large part because guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander got hot, scoring 18 of his game-high 30 points in the third quarter at the Intuit Dome. He also had 12 assists and four rebounds while shooting 9 for 14 from the floor (4 for 5 from 3-point range).
Lue’s easy-pass, easy-play strategy might work against most teams. The defending NBA champion Thunder, however, are unlike most teams.
For starters, they return the core of last year’s 68-14 team, led by league Gilgeous-Alexander, last year’s league MVP. They are unbeaten, having tied last season’s franchise record start, and given time, might set a few more marks.
“We have a DNA, we understand how to play basketball,” Gilgeous-Alexander, who played for the Clippers in his rookie season before he was traded to the Thunder, said after notching their seventh straight victory Sunday. “We understand how to win, you know, games, big moments and it’s done with all five guys on the court on both ends. That’s (ingrained) in us, that’s … almost a habit now.”
It’s a habit the Clippers would love to develop if they can stay healthy. Kawhi Leonard sat out Tuesday’s game after turning his right ankle against the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday, and guard Bradley Beal also missed the second game of a back-to-back set to manage his sore right knee.
Without the two starters, James Harden took it upon himself to carry the team, scoring a team-high 25 points, but just three in the second half. He also had six rebounds and six assists.
John Collins added 17 points, while Derrick Jones Jr. had 16 points and four rebounds and Brook Lopez finished with 12 points.
The Clippers took Lue’s advice in the early going and caught the Thunder off guard with a 16-2 run to start the game. They continued to rattle the Thunder and led, 33-23, heading into the second quarter without turning the ball over once.
The Clippers, though, fell into bad habits for a spell, turning the ball over eight times in the second quarter, which allowed the Thunder to slowly get back into the game.
One night after turning the ball over 21 times against the Pelicans, the Clippers had 19 turnovers that the Thunder turned into 34 points.
OKC overcame a 13-point deficit to briefly take a one-point lead on three free throws by Gilgeous-Alexander with 34 seconds left in the first half. Still, the Clippers, led by Harden’s 22 first-half points, clung to a 57-56 halftime lead.
“We got to be on alert for everything,” Lue said before the game. “They still play harder, still compete, they still turn you over, get out and transition and then they have the MVP over there as well.”
The game stayed close through the third quarter with the Clippers trailing 88-86 with 1:26 left. The fourth quarter was disastrous for the Clippers as the Thunder used a 19-6 run to open it up.
Isiah Joe scored 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting and had three rebounds for the Thunder, while Carson Wallace added 12 points. Former Clipper Isiah Hartenstein 10 points and seven rebounds, and Chet Holmgren had 11 points and five rebounds.
More to come on this story.