Heavy hitters seal deal for OKC
LOS ANGELES — As the Thunder has fought its way out of the hole it dug to start the season, the guys you’d expect have done the bulk of the hard climbing.
Russell Westbrook. Paul George. Carmelo Anthony.
They were as collectively spectacular as ever on Thursday, lifting the Thunder to a second straight win at the Staples Center, this time a 127-117 comeback victory against the Clippers.
But against L.A., the Big Three got a big hand with the hard work.
The Thunder got 10 points from its bench in a 12-0 run to start the fourth quarter to erase a 97-94 deficit. The only bucket from an Oklahoma City star came to cap the run, a two-point jumper from George that put the Thunder in front 106-97.
That didn’t put away that game.
To seal it shut, the Thunder leaned on its heavy hammers. They got the job done. George scored a gamehigh 31 points and added six rebounds and three assists. Westbrook posted his 13th triple-double of the season with 29 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists. Anthony added 22 points and four rebounds. The trio combined to shoot 32 of 52 and 10 of 16 from 3-point range.
In the fourth quarter,
George and Westbrook scored 10 points each, matching the Clippers’ scoring in the final quarter. OKC outscored L.A. 31-20 in the final 12 minutes.
The Thunder never held a first-half lead, but led by as many as eight points in the third quarter, moving ahead 79-71 on Steven Adams’ hook shot with 8:04 to play in the period. Oklahoma City led 88-81 after Terrance Ferguson’s long two-point jumper with 3:58 to play in the third.
But the Clippers closed the third on a 16-6 run, with six of those points coming from DeAndre Jordan, to take a 97-94 lead entering the fourth.
The Thunder answered with the first 12 points of the period, getting buckets from reserves Jerami Grant, Patrick Patterson and Raymond Felton.
That put the stars in position to close out the game, and they did it in spectacular fashion.
Even in this city of stars, the Thunder’s big three was spotlight-worthy.
In back-to-back wins at Staples — including Wednesday’s win against the Lakers — the Thunder scored 260 points and looked like an offensive juggernaut, led by its three superstars.
George, Westbrook and Anthony combined for 65 points against the Lakers and hung 82 on the Clippers.
The Thunder needed the lift.
For most of the first three quarters, the Thunder couldn’t get going and couldn’t stop Jordan. He had 24 points and 16 rebounds through the first three quarters but didn’t score and had a single board in the fourth.
The Clippers’ other star, Blake Griffin, managed five fourth-quarter points, but it was Lou Williams’ 13 that kept the Thunder from running away.
Each time the Clippers made a surge, the Thunder stars clapped back. Positioned to close the game, they kept finding ways to do it.
Westbrook and George combined to make 8 of 13 fourth-quarter shots. Anthony buried the only one he took, a 3-pointer.