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Clippers vs Thunder Preview: The Best in the West
The Clippers are winless at home to start the 2025 season, and will have a challenge getting their first W at Intuit against the visiting Thunder.
Game Information
Where: Intuit Dome, Inglewood, California
When: 7:30 PM PT
How to Watch: Bally/FanDuel Sports SoCal, AM 570
Projected Starting Lineups
Thunder: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – Cason Wallace – Jalen Williams – Lu Dort – Chet Holmgren
Clippers: James Harden – Norman Powell – Derrick Jones Jr. – Terance Mann – Ivica Zubac
Injuries
Thunder: Isaiah Hartenstein Out (Hand), Jaylin Williams Out (Hamstring), Kenrich Williams Out (Knee), Nikola Topic Out (Knee)
Clippers: Kawhi Leonard Out (Knee), Mo Bamba Out (Knee), PJ Tucker Out (Away from Team), Cam Christie Out (G-League), Trentyn Flowers Out (G-League)
The Big Picture
Clippers’ optimism, which was soaring high less than a week ago, has come crashing down to earth after back-to-back brutal losses on Wednesday and Thursday. More than anything, it’s the pattern in all five games this season that has been disturbing for fans: the Clippers build a lead due to defense and some combination of Harden-Zu brilliance or Norm shotmaking, then lose it as those guys get tired and turnovers mount without other options on offense. The Clippers have been highly competitive in every game and their defense looks great, and those are reasons to be entertained every night, but the end of game execution on offense has been very frustrating.
The Antagonist
The Thunder have been dominant to start the season, going 5-0 while winning all of their games by double-digits. While they have notable talent on offense, the Thunder have been winning games on defense: they rank first in Defensive Rating by a mile with a 95.7 mark, with the second-best defense placing at 98.4 (Warriors). The Clippers’ defense has been excellent and they rank 7th at 108.8, showing the gap between the two teams. On offense, the Thunder are powered by MVP-candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who remains one of the hardest players to guard in the NBA. Add in rising stars Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams surrounded by plenty of shooting and you have a dynamic, deep, athletic team that looks like one of the 2-3 best teams in the league. The Thunder are a tough, tough out every game.
Notes
Small-Ball Second Unit Time: The Thunder are great, but they are short on big men with Isaiah Hartenstein and Jaylin Williams out. They have thus been playing Ousmane Dieng, a forward, as their backup center. This mkes it a perfect game for Ty Lue to go small in the second unit and play Nic Batum at center, maybe allowing him to play someone like Kobe Brown or Jordan Miller some minutes as well. Kai Jones has not been a positive player for the Clipper so far off the bench, with his energy, hustle, and athleticism being outweighed by his inability to rebound or set screens. For once, I’d be interested in Ty Lue going with more small-ball in the second unit in this one, especially if it means playing the young guys who have not logged any minutes so far this year.
Avoid Turnovers: Turnovers have been a major issue for the Clippers this year, but they are a death knell against the Thunder, who are athletic and excellent at pushing the pace in transition. They are fantastic at forcing turnovers, and even better at punishing teams that give the ball away. It’s going to be tough for the Clippers to not have many giveaways against the long, young, feisty Thunder, but they’ll need to do their best to limit giveaways if they want to have any chance of winning this one.
Clippers vs Thunder Preview: The Best in the West
Robert Flom