Los Angeles Clippers, Oklahoma City Thunder battle in heavyweight NBA Western Conference clash
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Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard has averaged 26.6 points with 7.4 rebounds over his past five games.
PHOTO: REUTERS
INGLEWOOD – After a run of eight victories in nine National Basketball Association (NBA) games, including a win over the best team in the Eastern Conference, the revived Los Angeles Clippers will now test themselves against the best in the West.
The seventh-placed Clippers will match wits with the Oklahoma City Thunder on March 23 (March 24, Singapore time) at Intuit Dome, duelling a team on an even better run with 12 victories in 13 games.
While the Cleveland Cavaliers had the NBA’s top record when the Clippers (40-30) beat them 132-119 at home on March 18, the Thunder are now on top of the league.
In fact, the Thunder (58-12) clinched the Western Conference’s top play-off seed on March 20.
Los Angeles superstar Kawhi Leonard missed the first three months of the season with knee discomfort but has made up for lost time. He has averaged 26.6 points with 7.4 rebounds over his past five games.
Starters James Harden and Ivica Zubac continue to be productive, while trade-deadline addition Bogdan Bogdanovic has been a revelation since moving from the Atlanta Hawks on deadline day.
“Unbelievable basketball player, even better guy. He gets it, he understands it and he fits in with what we’re trying to do,” Harden said of Bogdanovic.
The Serbian guard has averaged 12.8 points in 18 games with his new team, including 17.0 points over his last five games, while shooting 74.4 per cent from the floor in the stretch and 15 of 19 (78.9 per cent) from three-point range.
“Everybody (is) contributing in their spots. If you’re playing 10 minutes or the whole game, everybody is collectively putting in the effort for the win,” said Leonard, who has helped the team move half a game behind the Golden State Warriors for the No. 6 seed before March 22.
Seamless play is nothing new for the Thunder, who have now earned the Western Conference’s top seed the past two seasons. And their dominance over the Clippers goes back even further.
Oklahoma City are 3-0 against Los Angeles in 2024-25 and 8-2 over the past three seasons.
The Thunder clinched the Western Conference when the Los Angeles Lakers fell to the Milwaukee Bucks on March 20. They celebrated a day later with a 141-106 home victory over the Charlotte Hornets.
Former Clipper Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 30 points against the Hornets and leads the NBA at 32.9 points per game. Another former Clipper, Isaiah Hartenstein, scored 12 points with 10 rebounds.
Oklahoma City’s second-leading scorer Jalen Williams (21.3 points) has missed the last five games with a hip injury, while Luguentz Dort has missed the past three games with his own hip issue.
“The best signal to us is the fact that no matter who we’re putting on the court, we kind of look the same on both ends of the floor,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said, as reported by ClutchPoints.
“We’re playing to a certain standard and playing a certain way, and that’s with different line-ups, but it’s also with guys being out.”|
The Thunder are starting a brief two-game visit to California with a game against the Sacramento Kings on March 25. They will return to Oklahoma City to play six of their next seven games at home, where they are 30-5 this season.
At the Crypto.com Arena, the Chicago Bulls stunned the Lakers 146-115 on March 22, spoiling superstar LeBron James’ return from a two-week absence with a groin injury.
The NBA’s all-time leading scorer James delivered 17 points, six rebounds and four assists in 31 minutes on court, while Luka Doncic, back in action after resting a sore ankle, drilled eight three-pointers on the way to a team-high 34 points.
“That was the worst our defence has looked maybe all year, certainly in the last three months,” said Lakers coach JJ Redick.
“I don’t know if we assumed because we had everybody back that it was just going to be like it was three weeks ago – that’s just not the way this works.”
Chicago (31-40), ninth in the Eastern Conference and looking to solidify a spot in the play-in tournament, benefited from 21 Lakers turnovers as well as big games from Coby White and Josh Giddey.
White made six three-pointers and led all scorers with 36 points, while Australian Giddey delivered a triple-double of 15 points, 10 rebounds and 17 assists.
Giddey also had eight of the Bulls’ 17 steals – finishing two steals shy of a rare quadruple-double. REUTERS, AFP
