The Thunder needed a response Friday night after dropping back-to-back games, and for most of the evening in Los Angeles, they were right there. In the end, though, Oklahoma City came up one shot short. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander missed the go-ahead attempt, and the Clippers escaped with a 113-112 win, handing the Thunder their third straight loss.
Gilgeous-Alexander did everything he could to keep OKC afloat. Against a Clippers team he always seems to enjoy facing, the two-time MVP carried the offense from start to finish and finished with 40 points on a highly efficient night. After struggling to get much going in the two Portland games, he looked much more like himself against LA.
The Thunder also got a meaningful moment from Nikola Topic, who made his season debut. Just getting on the floor counts as a win for the third-year guard after everything he has dealt with.
Topic’s path has been anything but smooth: a major knee injury before he was drafted, then testicular cancer, then back surgery this offseason that kept him out of Summer League, preseason and the start of the regular season. After several stints with the OKC Blue, he finally got his chance with the big club.
The box score wasn’t flashy, but he still chipped in four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Brook Lopez was the other major storyline, and not in a way the Thunder wanted. Oklahoma City had no real answer for him at the arc, where the veteran big kept punishing them all night.
Lopez, one of the best stretch bigs ever, finished with 26 points and repeatedly dragged the Clippers back into the game. Isaiah Hartenstein gave OKC a steady presence inside and Aday Mara brought shot-blocking length, but Lopez still found ways to hurt them.
The Thunder also dug themselves a hole before halftime. They went into the break down double digits and had made only two 3-pointers as a team.
That changed in the third quarter, when Jared McCain caught fire and nearly flipped the game on its head. He drilled five triples in the period, including one at the buzzer, and poured in 17 points in the quarter alone.
Alongside Gilgeous-Alexander, he helped drag Oklahoma City back into striking distance.
McCain’s shooting was crucial because the Thunder needed every bit of perimeter offense they could get. He ended the night with seven of the team’s 11 made 3-pointers.
The loss leaves Oklahoma City at 1-1 in NBA Cup play, with games still ahead against Minnesota and New Orleans. The path to the quarterfinals is still there, but after this one, it looks a lot narrower.
In Other News...
Doug McDermotts Retirement Brings Back A Mavericks Team-Building Reminder
Doug McDermotts retirement announcement brought a familiar name back into the conversation for NBA fans who remember how quickly he became a useful piece after entering the league in 2014. Over 12 seasons, the sharp-shooting forward carved out a long career with seven teams, including stops with the Bulls, Pacers and Kings, and he left behind the kind of rsum that reflects both consistency and adaptability.
For Oklahoma City, McDermotts path also serves as another reminder of how much roster churn can shape a franchises history, even in the margins. He spent a brief stretch with the Thunder early in his career before moving on in the Carmelo Anthony trade, and his retirement adds one more layer to a deal that still sits in the background of the teams team-building story. [Read more 🡒]
Thunder Keep Getting Big Jared McCain Nights Without The Ending They Need
Jared McCain kept giving the Thunder the kind of jolt that can swing a tight NBA Cup game, scoring 23 points and punctuating the third quarter with a deep buzzer-beating three that had Oklahoma City in position to finish the night on a high note. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander carried the offense with 40 points, and for stretches it looked like the Thunder had enough firepower to ride those big moments past the Clippers.
Instead, the closing sequence turned on one possession too many. McCain was involved in the foul that led to Darius Garlands and-1 late in the fourth quarter, and after that, Gilgeous-Alexanders potential winner at the buzzer did not fall, leaving Oklahoma City with a 113-112 loss and another standout McCain performance without the ending the Thunder wanted. [Read more 🡒]
Nuggets Still Have A Real NBA Cup Path As The Race Tightens
Three weeks into the NBA Cup, the field is starting to sort itself out, and the Thunder have already found out how thin the margins can be. Around the league, the Warriors fell to the Spurs without Steph Curry, the Grizzlies handled the Pelicans and the Trail Blazers got past the Kings, while Oklahoma City came up just short in a tight one against the Clippers.
The standings still have room to change, but the early leaders are beginning to emerge, with the Celtics on top in the East and the Spurs pacing the West. For the Thunder, the loss leaves them needing to keep pace in a group where every possession matters, and the difference between advancing and going home may already be tied to one late sequence they could not quite finish. [Read more 🡒]