SGA and Schroder led Thunder to their 4th straight victory, 118–112 against Clippers
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander matched his career-high with 32 points (12/25 FG, 2/3 3s, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals), Dennis Schroder added 28 points coming off the bench (8/17 FG, 4/8 3s, 5 rebounds, 6 assists and one steal) and the Oklahoma City Thunder got their fourth straight win by beating the Los Angeles Clippers 118–112 on Sunday night.
Steven Adams had a significant double-double with 20 points and 17 rebounds, shooting 10/15 from the field. The Thunder managed to win this game despite the absence of Danilo Gallinari who didn’t play (sore left ankle) last night.
“That’s a really good team over there,” Thunder point guard Chris Paul said. “Obviously, they’ve been in all type of different situations. It’s good. It’s really good, especially the way we were down in the first half.”
“You just go on chemistry, being more comfortable with the offense, defense, you could do all that sort of stuff,” Thunder center Steven Adams said. “Figuring out playing habits — you could go on, mate.”
The Thunder have won nine of 12 to move above .500 for the first time this season.
“I think as mad as we are that we’re letting games get away early, we’re starting to figure out how to win them now,” Paul said. “We’ve got to keep it going. Even if we’re not making shots, knowing we can get stops. Really good teams in this league — that’s when they buckle down — the fourth quarter.”
Paul George, in his first return back to Oklahoma where he spent the last two seasons before asking for a trade so he can finally play with Kawhi Leonard (who by the way sat out with left knee soreness), was welcomed by the fans who cheered for him when he was introduced. George scored 18 points, shooting just 6 out of 17 from the field and 2 out of 5 from the perimeter.
“It was great,” George said. “It made me feel appreciated, just being here. I enjoyed my time here.”
Lou Williams, who started this game because Patrick Beverley is still out with injury, scored 22 points and had three rebounds and seven assists. Montrezl Harrell and Landry Shamet, who came off the bench had 18 and 14 points for the Clippers, respectively.