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Philippines, 24 Apr 2025 |
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OKC Nips LA Clippers in Late Season Struggle; Keeps League Lead, Drops Clips to 8th By Teodoro Medina Reynoso PhilBoxing.com Mon, 24 Mar 2025  At this point, the Oklahoma City Thunder can afford to drop a game, having virtually clinched the Western Conference top seed. On the other hand, their opponents, the Los Angeles Clippers need to win in order to gain on the Golden State Warriors for the battle for the sixth and final automatic spot for the playoffs in the West. But having overtaken the Cleveland Cavaliers for overall league leadership, it was obvious OKC wouldn't want to let go of it. What transpired in today's confrontation therefore became a struggle, a test of will. And in the end, Oklahoma prevailed by just two points, 103-101 in a down the wire battle in a game where its biggest star had his lowest score performance. Shai Gilgeous Alexander scored just 26 points and was not as big factor as he usually is. But veteran Alex Caruso provided the needed boost on offense and defense where it mattered the most, even standing up against LAC's main man Kahwi Leonard. On the other hand, Isaac Hertenstein and Jaylin Williams, standing in for injured main OKC big man Chet Holmgren combined for 26 points and 17 rebounds as they neutralized Clippers behemoth Ivica Zubac at the slot. The burly seven-foot Zubac came away with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Reserve Aaron Wiggins also backed up Alexander and in part forward Lue Dorf as he tossed in 19 big points in somehow matching the combined production of Leonard (24 points) James Harden, Norman (17) Powell and Derrick Jones, both with 9 points. The game held at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles was decided in the waning seconds with Alexander fittingly clinching it with a three pointer after Caruso answered Leonard basket for basket in the last less than a minute left for a 100-all standoff. The Clippers still had a chance to tie the game through Leonard but Caruso blunted it with a two free throw foul on Kahwi. Kahwi made the first charity and deliberately missed the second with the Clippers getting the rebound but the buzzer sounded ending the game. Clippers were critical of the officiating in the loss, claiming that in many instances, Hertenstein got away with his physicality with Zubac while Alexander's defenders did not get the referee's benefit of the doubt. The victory raised Oklahoma's league leading mark to 59-12, two games ahead of Cleveland (57-14) with only 11 games left in the current season. The loss on the other hand, dropped the Clippers in the interim to #8 with a slate of 40-31 behind Minnesota Timberwolves (41-31) and current #6 Golden State Warriors (41-30). A win could have tied them with the Warriors. The author Teodoro Medina Reynoso is a veteran boxing radio talk show host living in the Philippines. He can be reached at teddyreynoso@yahoo.com and by phone 09215309477. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Teodoro Medina Reynoso.  |
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