Thunder 85 – Clippers 83 | Rapid Recap

The Thunder GuysNovember 3, 2016 No Comments

The Thunder pull off yet another close win tonight defeating the LA Clippers 85-83. Poor shooting from both teams and more lead changes than I could count caused a crazy series of emotions. You can say what you want about tonights win, but the Thunder proved once again that they can close out games in tight situations.

The Thunder got off to a faster start than we expected, but the Clippers quickly closed the gap. The team did enough to hang around and keep this game close in the first half, but they did not play anywhere near their potential.

Oklahoma City was in desperate need for Russell Westbrook to come through, and he did what the Brodie does best. While he took a lot of extremely difficult shots in the second half, he made them when it counted. He finished the game with 35 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals.

Supporting Cast Must Step Up

The Thunder has a proven player in Russell Westbrook, but the team will need more from the supporting cast to continue this kind of success for the remainder of the season. If you take away the 35 points from Westbrook, the other four starters combined for just 19 points.

Victor Oladipo got off to a hot start hitting three shots from beyond the arc in the first half. After that, he did not score. Dipo has to be a part of this Thunder offense as they cannot afford for him to disappear in the second half.

Jerami Grant Debut’s for OKC

Tuesday afternoon the Thunder traded Ersan Ilysova and a future first round pick for Jerami Grant. To quite a surprise, Grant was ready to go tonight and played a solid 17 minutes. He shot 2-6 for 6 points, but showed a lot more than that. Grant showed he is not afraid to attack any defender. He is an excellent shot creator and will fit right in with this up-tempo Thunder team.

 Russ Closes Again

Russell Westbrook showed just how important he was to this team tonight(as if we didn’t already know). He absolutely took over the game in the fourth quarter. It all started with an And1 jump shot right after coming off the bench.

The Brodie must do a better job at choosing his shots in clutch time. The thing I liked most about his performance tonight is how he recovered after taking those poor shots. He proved to be a mature, MVP quality player by slowing down and making the smart plays after his bad shots and turnovers. What matters the most is he made the basket when it counted.

 Russ and KD Collide Tomorrow

After a win tonight, the Thunder will be back in action in less than 24 hours when they take on the Golden State Warriors in Oakland. Tip-off will be at 9:30 PM CST. It will be televised on TNT and FSOK and broadcast on WWLS 98.1 FM.

Article written by Craig Hofeld. Follow @TheThunderGuys on Twitter. 

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