Oklahoma City Thunder @ LA Clippers
Tuesday, January 16, 2024 at 10:00 PM ET
Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, CA | Game ID: 22300568
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
LAC 35 30 34 29 128OKC 30 31 28 28 117
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
George scores season-high 38 points to lead Clippers over Thunder 128-117 for 9th win in 11 games
LOS ANGELES -- — Paul George scored 18 of his season-high 38 points in the fourth quarter and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 128-117 on Tuesday night for their ninth win in 11 games.
Kawhi Leonard and James Harden added 16 points apiece to complete a big day for the franchise. Earlier, Commissioner Adam Silver announced the 2026 All-Star Game will be held at the Clippers’ under-construction arena in Inglewood, where they begin play next season.
Jalen Williams scored 25 points and Lu Dort and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander each added 19 points for the Thunder, the West's No. 2 team that has dropped two in a row after winning nine of 12 coming into Los Angeles.
“We gave ourselves every chance to win that game and they outplayed us in the final 3 1/2 minutes,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “That's how you learn about ourselves. It's exciting to know that we're drawing teams' best punches out of them.”
After trailing by 13 points in the third, the Thunder stormed back to lead 115-114 on a 3-pointer by Williams.
That's when George took over.
He scored 11 of the Clippers' final 14 points for an empathetic end to what started out as a back-and-forth game early in the fourth. He hit two 3-pointers and ended the surge with a steal and one-handed dunk.
“Once I see the ball going in, I feel confident and ultra-aggressive,” George said. “Throughout my career, it takes a couple (shots) to kind of ease into the game."
George hit six 3-pointers, grabbed seven rebounds and had five assists to go with three steals and no turnovers.
“Him taking over that fourth and just putting his will on the game gets us over that hump,” Leonard said. “He made shots and he made defensive plays as well.”
The Thunder closed to 79-77 in the third on a 9-0 run that began and ended with 3-pointers by Isaiah Joe .
The Clippers answered with a 20-12 run capped by consecutive 3-pointers by Daniel Theis and Norman Powell to lead 99-89 going into fourth.
“We responded well,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “To hold onto the lead and make our own run says a lot about our team.”
Clippers center Ivica Zubac missed his second straight game with a right calf strain and will be re-evaluated in a month. Mason Plumlee had 14 points in his first start of the season in Zubac’s place.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
OKCAW A. Wiggins
CH C. Holmgren
CW C. Wallace
IJ I. Joe
JG J. Giddey
JW J. Williams
JW Jal. Williams
KW K. Williams
LD L. Dort
MI Micic
OD O. Dieng
SG S. Gilgeous-Alexander
VM V. Micić
LACAC A. Coffey
DT D. Theis
JH J. Harden
KL K. Leonard
MP M. Plumlee
NP N. Powell
PG P. George
RW R. Westbrook
TM T. Mann
OKC/LAC the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur