OKC Thunder: Player Grades reflect how a poor start gave Clippers the win

In the first of a two-game set at the Staples Center, the OKC Thunder fell behind early to the LA Clippers.

Within minutes the Clippers held a double-digit lead and while the young Thunder crew battled they were never able to make up the ground lost in the poor start.

Entering the match the Clippers held the second-longest active win streak at five, extending it to six with the win. The Jazz who’ve won eight in a row have the longest active streak.

It was the first meeting between the clubs this season. Every match versus the Clippers will hold extra interest given the trade that shaped both teams.

Over the next several seasons each time the OKC Thunder selects a player in the draft, it will undoubtedly have us reflecting back to the offseason of 2019.

Ultimately, Paul George landed in LA but Sam Presti established the benchmark for what a superstar is worth in the process. Danilo Gallinari is gone after a single season in OKC.

However, the true value of the trade was landing cornerstone Shai Gilgeous-Alexander along with copious first-round draft picks and swaps.

OKC Thunder player grades highlight team’s slow start

With the Clippers on a tear of late and feasting offensively, it was a given this would be an uphill battle even before the ball was tipped.

Leading up the match, TI highlighted specific areas where the OKC Thunder would need to excel and where they would have to exceed the efforts of the Clippers.

Knowing those goals and delivering on them are two different things though and the Thunder got a quick taste of why the Clippers rank first offensively in the NBA.

LA connected on four 3-point shots in the opening frame which was one of the keys for the Thunder to be careful of since they boast the top-rated 3-point efficiency of 43.3 percent and rank fifth in makes (15.1).

That was an area of the game OKC met the game plan for holding LA to 10 triples total and limiting them to 30.3 percent. Unfortunately, because of the Clippers’ prowess in this area as soon as the opponent commits to defending the arc it opens driving lanes. And the Clippers capitalized, early and often!

The resulting effect was the Clippers doubled the Thunder in the opening frame 36-18 and despite OKC winning the middle frames and staying within a point in the fourth quarter the damage was already done.

With that let’s dive into the player grades from the match.