Rested OKC Thunder return to NBA action against listless LA Clippers

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma City Thunder finally got a chance to catch their collective breath over the past few days.

The defending NBA champions and Western Conference leaders will get back at it after their longest stretch between games of the regular season, when they host the Los Angeles Clippers on Dec 18 (Dec 19 morning, Singapore time).

The layoff came at an ideal time for the Thunder (24-2), who are working to integrate their roster after playing with their expected starting line-up for the first time all season in their 111-109 loss to the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Cup semi-finals on Dec 13.

It has been particularly helpful for Jalen Williams, who missed training camp after undergoing off-season wrist surgery. He has played seven games but has yet to have any extended practice work since returning to full speed.

“This is the first time I’ve got consecutive days to actually work out and utilise both my hands, so that’s cool,” said Williams, a first-time All-Star and third-team All-NBA selection last season. “You don’t really get a lot of these days like that.

“So we got to go through actual practice and kind of have a training camp flow where we get to re-integrate our principles, watch film, just do a whole deep dive into the season.

“Just kind of dissect that and actually be able to work on it.”

The Dec 18 meeting – originally marked for a day earlier before the schedule shift to allow the Thunder more recovery time after a potential NBA Cup final on Dec 16 – is the second between the teams this season.

Oklahoma City won the first, 126-107, on Nov 4 in Los Angeles.

While the Thunder’s loss to San Antonio snapped a franchise-record 16-game winning streak, it also gave Oklahoma City more time to recover.

Los Angeles, meanwhile, are coming off a 121-103 home loss to Memphis on Dec 15. The Clippers (6-20) have dropped four consecutive games and nine of their last 10.

Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said his team needed to build mental strength in order to help turn things around.

“I think mentally, when it gets hard, you’ve got to get tougher,” he said. “We can be playing good basketball and a couple things go wrong and then it’s like, ‘Here we go again’.

“Instead of having a mindset that we’ve got to get tougher, we’ve got to get stronger and then do things even better, not get discouraged when you miss a couple shots, not get discouraged when you turn the basketball over.”

That is hard to do against the Thunder, who are forcing an NBA-high 16.9 turnovers per game and also lead the league with 25 points off turnovers per game.

In the first Thunder-Clippers game of the season, Oklahoma City outscored Los Angeles 34-12 off turnovers and 28-6 on the fast break.

The teams’ seasons are linked.

The Thunder own the Clippers’ 2026 first-round pick. The pick, which was exchanged in the 2019 trade that landed Paul George in Los Angeles, is not protected.

Oklahoma City also have the right to swop picks with the Clippers in the 2027 first round, after the 2023 trade that saw James Harden go to the Clippers.

Dec 18’s game is the first of a back-to-back for the Thunder, who visit the Minnesota Timberwolves on Dec 19 and play six of their next eight at home. Oklahoma City are 12-0 at home this season.

Meanwhile, on Dec 17, Coby White scored 25 points and Josh Giddey notched 23 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists to help hosts Chicago Bulls defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers 127-111.

In the only other game, Jaren Jackson Jr scored 28 points and pulled down 12 rebounds as the Memphis Grizzlies held on for a 116-110 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. REUTERS