OKC Thunder – Clippers update: Paul, Dort out – Schroder starting

OKC Thunder head coach, Billy Donovan and LA Clippers bench boss Doc Rivers provide player availability update for tonight’s match.

With the final game of the season on tap, the OKC Thunder and LA Clippers don’t have much to play for. There are goals for each side despite this fact. Clearly the most important is to have everyone who plays leave the match healthy.

Injuries are always something you want to avoid. The Thunder has had a few close calls recently with Steven Adams suffering a very awkward fall versus the Lakers and Luguentz Dort going knee to knee with Jae Crowder.

Both incidences could’ve been much worse than they ended up being but it was a great reminder of how precarious navigating conditioning versus having a core player on the court in a meaningless game can be.

A few seasons back Dwane Casey had Raptors Fred VanVleet on the court in the final 90 seconds with absolutely nothing (advantage related) to gain. The Heat was playing extremely physical and chippy (one player had already left hurt by a dirty play) and Bam Adebayo literally football checked/tackled VanVleet hitting him so hard he separated his shoulder.

VanVleet was lost for the first series and was never 100 percent when he returned. All for what? I’m convinced Dwane Casey had a bonus clause in his contract (as many players and coaches do) for reaching 60 wins. He put the entire team in jeopardy for what? That was the moment he lost the team — you could see it. Without Fred at 100 percent, they were swept by the Cavs and Casey was fired that summer.

OKC Thunder injury report for Clippers match:

I thought of that when the injury report was provided. Heading into the game we already knew Luguentz Dort would be out based on the injury he suffered in the Wednesday game versus the Heat. The update states Dort suffered a knee sprain. T.I. dove into that a little more here.

The surprising news was Chris Paul has a hand sprain. Fans have seen him looking at his hand a bit lately so he obviously is a little banged up. At the same time, CP3 didn’t seem bothered enough that we have to worry about this being a big deal.

Rather, this is intelligent by the OKC Thunder to rest their most important and valuable piece. As per below. Donovan spoke about Chris Paul’s hand a bit more (as expected – they are being cautious).

And like we outlined in our Dort update – a knee sprain is a tricky thing and has to be monitored daily.

Additionally, Dennis Schroder who was expected to be out, is back and beyond playing is also starting.

As you’ll note below, his quarantine was of the more typical four days but every case is treated individually so Montrezl Harrell is still isolating.

It is a little surprising Schroder will play but then again, Doc Rivers was bemoaning not having the opportunity to get Harrell some run, so this sort of makes sense. Still, let’s hope it’s in limited minutes — for safety’s sake. Ditto for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari and Steven Adams.

In the earlier matches of the day, the Nuggets started Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray but didn’t play them after the half. The Raptors’ only starter to play was Marc Gasol along with key reserve Norm Powell with neither playing after the half.

Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Jae Crowder, Andre Iguodala, and Goran Dragic were all out for the Heat while T.J. Warren, Victor Oladipo, and Myles Turner didn’t dress for Indy.

It’s pretty common across the board to rest the stars/core or play them limited minutes.

Donovan clearly wants Dennis to get some run for conditioning but it would be surprising if he played more than 15 minutes (20 tops).

Clippers updates:

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On the opposite side of the floor, the early updates indicated Landry Shamet (foot), Patrick Beverley (calf) and Montrezl Harrell (personal) would be out. Shamet arrived at the bubble late after testing positive for COVID-19. Patrick Beverley also left the bubble to attend a friend’s funeral. He played in three seeding games leaving the third contest early after suffering an issue with his calf.

As a side note, I found it funny how Shaq and the crew on Inside the NBA where citing Beverley as the reason the Mavericks had no shot of getting past the Clippers. Let’s not forget the initial injury that kept K.D. off the court last season was a calf injury and these types of injuries aren’t something you can play through.

Based on the pre-game presser by Doc and questions asked it seems Trez arrived a day earlier than Schroder but he was given a seven-day quarantine. This is likely because of how long Harrell was away from Orlando and as we’ve noted prior each case is treated individually.

That means Harrell won’t be out of quarantine until Monday.

Doc didn’t provide any new updates on players being out. That presumes the stars will play at least the first half as Rivers continues wanting to get his guys’ reps to build cohesiveness.

I expected both sides would rest more players but again there are different dynamics facing each side. For Doc, it’s about reps and chemistry, and for Billy, he needs to get guys flowing again with Schroder as well as figure out who takes Dort spot at least in the short term. Based on today’s starting five that appears to be Terrance Ferguson.

Our full game day preview can be viewed here. Enjoy watching some of the youngsters today with the tip at 5:30 p.m. CT. It’s the last game before the Thunder will begin a playoff series no one thought they’d be competing in.