Wei Shao made 1 of 9 shots, Thunder 9 hats in a single quarter, and defeated the Clippers Big Four
On February 23, Beijing time, the Thunder played at home vs the Clippers, the second in the West and the third in the West. The Clippers are 0.5 wins behind the Thunder, and a win will complete the comeback. Clippers starting this game: Harden, Mann, George, Leonard, Zubac. Thunder starters: Giddey, Alexander, Dort, Jewe, Holmgren.
Hayward made his Thunder debut with the No. 33 jersey. Before this year's trade deadline, the Thunder sent Tre Mann + Bertans + Micic + 2 second-round picks to the Hornets, and traded 5 for 1 to get Heatward. Plagued by injuries, Hayward hasn't played in two months.
After the start of the game, both teams were at a fast pace on offense and defense, with Holmgren hitting two three-pointers in a row. One more thing: Wembanyama is ranked first on the rookie list for 6 consecutive periods, Holmgren continues to be ranked second, and Wemban's race for best rookie is already ahead. After 5 minutes of the first quarter, Wei Shao came off the bench and the Thunder home fans cheered.
Before Willis came on, the Clippers trailed 13-16. After Wei Shao came on the court, the Clippers launched a 10-0 attack wave in 2 minutes and completed the comeback 23-16. The small card offensive end was demanded, Carson Wallace and Aaron Wiggins couldn't stand it! Unfortunately, the Thunder was too accurate in three points, hitting 7 of the first 11 outside shots, relying on three-point firepower, the Thunder took the lead again.
At the end of the first quarter, the Thunder led by two points at 35-33. The Clippers scored by 14 points on the inside 24-10 run, but hit five fewer three-pointers than the Thunder. In the second quarter, Hayward came on the court, and the Clippers Harden and George led the second lineup. In the first quarter, the Clippers relied on the inside, and in the second quarter, the outside opened, Powell hit three three-pointers, and Zubac vomited under the basket.
Holmgren has a good outside touch, and Zubac can't defend it. In the second half of the second quarter, Tyronn Lue replaced Zubac and sacrificed a five-man lineup. The Clippers were unguarded inside, and the second quarter turned into Alexander's show time, hitting the basket in succession. Don't look at the Thunder's lively play, but the outside shooting percentage has dropped, and the two teams are tied 26-26 in the first quarter.
At the end of the first half, the Thunder still led by two points at 61-59. Alexander shot 7-of-10 and scored 19 points, 2 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal and 1 block, filling the stats column. Holmgren shot 4-of-7 from the field and 3-of-5 from three-point range to finish with 11 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks. On the Clippers' side, Powell scored 14 points, Xiaoka had 12 points and 2 assists, and Harden had 9 points, 7 rebounds and 1 assist.
The Clippers hit five three-pointers in the second quarter and 7-of-16 three-pointers in the half, shooting 43.8 percent from the field. The Thunder hit just three three-pointers in the second quarter and made 10-of-21 three-pointers in the half, shooting 47.6 percent from the field. At the beginning of the second half, Leonard scored six points in a row, but the Thunder's three-pointer rain extinguished the Clippers' comeback flames. Six minutes were played in the third quarter, and the Thunder led by seven points.
The Thunder's five-small lineup had excellent bounce speed, and the defense did not suffer, sending 9 blocks in a single quarter, and Zubac was stunned. The Clippers had small cards to play, and the Thunder began to flank. In the final three minutes of the third quarter, the Thunder led to double digits. The Thunder scored 35 points in the first quarter, and the Clippers scored only 23 points. At the end of the third quarter, the Thunder led by 14 points at 96-82.
Let's talk about another statistic: In the first three quarters, the Thunder had 12 blocks, and the Clippers had 1! In the fourth quarter, the Thunder once led to 19 points, and Harden made two consecutive three-pointers, which came a little late. The Thunder were so calm that they allowed Alexander to sit on the sidelines for nearly eight minutes. In the last 4 minutes, Alexander came on the court, and the Clippers replaced all the main forces and surrendered.
At the end of the game, the Thunder defeated the Clippers 129-107, and the Thunder firmly sat in second place in the West. Hayward scored 0 points in his debut but grabbed 4 rebounds. Alexander scored 31 points, 4 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocks on 12-of-19 shooting! Holmgren finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks on 6-of-12 shooting. Jay had 18 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 blocks.
On the Clippers' side, many people played abnormally: Wei Shao was 1-of-9 with only 2 points, 1 rebound and 5 assists, while George was 6-of-16 with 14 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists. Leonard scored a team-high 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting, but had a plus/minus of -17!Harden shot 5-of-9 for 17 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists, with a plus/minus of -7. Finally, take a look at the data and talk about your mood: