The Last Seven Points: Lopez and Garland Rally the Clippers Past Shai's 40, 113-112, and Hand OKC a Rare Three-Game Skid

For 45 minutes on Friday night, it looked like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was going to drag a short-handed Oklahoma City team out of its slump by himself. Then the Clippers found one more push.

Los Angeles scored the game's final seven points, erasing a six-point deficit over the last 2:43, and held on for a 113-112 win over the Thunder in NBA Cup play at Intuit Dome, the Associated Press reported ^[1]. Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 40 points, but his 21-foot jumper at the final horn missed, according to VAVEL USA ^[2].

Brook Lopez led the Clippers with 26 points, seven rebounds and four assists, and Darius Garland scored 24 ^[2][3]. Garland's three-point play in the closing minute put Los Angeles ahead for good, The Sporting Tribune reported ^[4]. The free throw that completed it came with about 50 seconds left, according to VAVEL's play-by-play ^[2]. Jared McCain added 23 points for Oklahoma City ^[3].

A Comeback by a Team That Needed One

The Clippers have spent the first month of the season looking for answers. They opened with a 1-7 record, and Friday's win was their second in three games, the AP noted ^[1]. They are now 3-8 ^[2].

This one came down to the two veterans who carried them all night. Lopez and Garland combined for 50 points ^[3], and when the game tightened in the final minutes, Los Angeles held Oklahoma City scoreless the rest of the way ^[1]. On the final possession, Gilgeous-Alexander's 21-foot jumper came up short ^[2].

For a team that has heard plenty about its slow start, a late win over a contender like Oklahoma City is the kind of result that can steady a locker room. The Clippers host the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday afternoon ^[4].

Oklahoma City's Rough Road

The Thunder have now dropped three straight, the first three-game losing streak for the franchise in about 950 days, News On 6 reported ^[5]. They are 8-5 and 0-3 on a four-game West Coast trip, after losing twice in Portland before arriving in Los Angeles ^[1][6].

The injury list explains a lot. Oklahoma City played without starters Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace, the AP reported ^[1]. Without them, the Thunder lean even harder on Gilgeous-Alexander to create every good look, and on Friday he answered with 40. But a team built on length, defense and depth looks very different when three of its starters are in street clothes, and the Clippers took advantage in the final minutes.

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McCain's 23 points were the bright spot behind Gilgeous-Alexander ^[3]. Oklahoma City built the six-point lead it held late, but it could not get a basket in the final 2:43, and that is where this one was lost.

Why It Matters in the NBA Cup

NBA Cup group games count in the regular-season standings and also decide who advances to the knockout rounds, so a one-point loss in November carries extra weight. A Thunder team that has lost three in a row cannot afford many more slips in group play, and a Clippers team that started 1-7 just gave itself a reason to believe.

My Take

I have a soft spot for games like this one. Gilgeous-Alexander did everything a star can do: 40 points, on the road, with three starters out, on the last stop of a hard week. Nobody should read a three-game skid as a sign that the Thunder are in real trouble. When Holmgren, Williams and Wallace return, this team will look like itself again.

But give the Clippers their due. A team that started 1-7 could have folded when it fell behind by six late. Instead, a veteran big man and a determined guard took the game over, and the defense got the last stop it needed. That is the kind of grit that turns a season around, and it is worth celebrating.

The Thunder still have one more game on this trip. The best teams answer a streak like this quickly, and that is what Oklahoma City will be looking to do.