Harden put up a scorching 22 points by halftime, but the Clips let victory slip through their hands to lose their second straight game

Despite a thrilling finish powered by Kawhi’s game-winner on Halloween night against the New Orleans Pelicans, the Clippers have now lost two in a row thanks to a disappointing performance against the reigning NBA champions, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Now sitting under .500 with a record of 3-4, the Clippers need to quickly pinpoint the issue(s) at hand and figure out how to proceed with the season, especially with a challenging series of matchups looming on the horizon against the Denver Nuggets, the Boston Celtics, and the Philadelphia 76ers. 

Granted, Kawhi Leonard (ankle) and Bradley Beal (rest) did not suit up for the game against OKC, but nonetheless, for a team with so much depth, it was rather shocking to notice a lack of chemistry and groove to the flow of the game. LA did shoot a solid 41.3% field goal percentage, along with 41.9% from beyond the arc, and even out-rebounded OKC with 42 boards. But the turnovers were extremely detrimental, with 19 costly errors from the Clippers. In comparison, OKC made 52.3% of their field goals, 47.4% from three, grabbed 40 rebounds, and only had 11 turnovers. 

James Harden led LA in scoring, with 25 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists, followed by John Collins, who produced 17 points and 4 rebounds off the bench. Derrick Jones Jr. also made a nice impact, tallying 16 points and 4 rebounds, in addition to Brook Lopez giving 12 points, but only 2 rebounds, surprisingly.

Bogdan Bogdanović did a bit of everything, mustering up 11 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists. Despite these respective stat lines, the drop-off in production is sizable compared to the next Clipper, with it being Ivica Zubac who had an unusually quiet game of just 7 points and 7 rebounds. As far as other notable players, such as Chris Paul, Nicolas Batum, and Kris Dunn, they were essentially no-shows whose presences were sorely missed.

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Thursday and Saturday will pit the Clippers against the Phoenix Suns in a back-to-back series, with one game being at home and one on the road. James Harden (personal) and Kawhi Leonard (ankle) are already confirmed to sit out for Thursday’s game, while Bradley Beal (rest) is currently labeled as day-to-day.

If Beal is indeed out for this game too, the weight of the team will fall onto the LA veteran Ivica Zubac to lead the squad, along the fresh faces, John Collins and Derrick Jones Jr. It will be interesting to observe how the Clippers respond during a two-game losing streak when they face Devin Booker and the Suns.Â