Grading Thunder players in second consecutive win against Clippers

After starting the season 0-3, the Oklahoma City Thunder are now on a two-game win streak, beating the Los Angeles Clippers for the second time in three days on Thursday night. OKC beat former Thunder star Paul George and company 118-110 behind big performances from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Lu Dort.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Lu Dort propel the Oklahoma City Thunder over the Los Angeles Clippers 118-110.

While the Clippers were without star Paul George on Tuesday night’s game against the Thunder, George was active for the rematch. This game marked the second time the Thunder have hosted George since the blockbuster trade that sent him to Los Angeles in exchange for a core haul of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a plethora of draft picks.

One of those draft picks was eventually used to draft Tre Mann in the first round of the 2021 draft.  Last night, Mann started in place of Josh Giddey, who is still nursing an ankle injury. Aaron Wiggins also got the start for the second consecutive game.

OKC started out the game on fire, but slowly the Clippers climbed back and made it close. The Thunder won Tuesday night’s game while shooting an abysmal 13.3 percent from three. However, they followed up that game with an elite shooting game, knocking down 44.7 percent of three-point attempts.

The Thunder also had success locking down Paul George in this game. George shot just 4-for-12 from the field, scoring just 10 points on the night. Lu Dort is known for clamping up the league’s best offensive players and George was just added to the list.

Dort also played spectacularly on the other side of the ball as well, notching over 20 points for the first time this season. After a sluggish start to the season, Dort bounced back and played great.

The game showed that the Thunder can be competitive with any team in this league and when our young players get it going, we show flashes of amazing basketball.