Player grades: Thunder escapes with critical 101-100 win over Clippers

With the final 21 seconds winding down, Kawhi Leonard had a chance to hit the game-winning basket. Trailing by one point, Leonard took the ball and let the fate of the game be decided by his hands.

Instead, what transpired was a 21-second defensive masterclass of Lu Dort shutting down the opposition’s best player and forcing a bad miss.

In a critical game with massive playoff ramifications, the Oklahoma City Thunder won the first of two games against the LA Clippers, 101-100.

“That’s why we love him,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said on Dort’s stop. “He’s some player and some competitor and he rises in those types of situations.”

A slow start saw the Thunder trail the Clippers 18-4 early in the game, but after that opening punch, it was a more competitive, back-and-forth game the rest of the way. The Thunder outscored the Clippers for the remainder of the first half, 52-33, following the early 14-point deficit.

The Clippers made it interesting in the second half as they outscored the Thunder, 49-45, but the Thunder held off for the road victory.

The Thunder were led by the duo of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams, who combined to score 51 points on 20-of-40 shooting from the field.

Meanwhile, the Clippers were led by their star duo of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. Leonard finished with 21 points on 7-of-16 shooting, six rebounds and five assists. George had 18 points on 9-of-17 shooting before leaving in the fourth quarter due to a leg injury.

Former Thunder guard Russell Westbrook also contributed for the Clippers as he finished with 15 points and eight rebounds.

This was a massive, massive win for the Thunder to kick off this season-defining four-game road trip. With the win, the Thunder are now just half a game back from the sixth seed — which means there’s a very real possibility OKC skips the Play-In tournament entirely.

The Thunder will only have a short period of time to celebrate their third consecutive win against the Clippers as they play them once again on Thursday, March 23.

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It will be the second game of this mini-baseball series and the final game of the four-game season series between both teams. George’s availability for the game is currently unknown as he left the game with help.

“Sending the whole team and organization thoughts to Paul George,” Daigneault said. “He was here. Great person. We hope he’s OK.”

Let’s take a look at Thunder player grades.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: A+

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These are the type of games where superstars are asked to do the most and that’s exactly what Shai Gilgeous-Alexander did in this two-point win.

Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 31 points on 12-of-25 shooting and went 6-of-7 from the free-throw line. He also added seven rebounds and four assists.

With the Clippers mounting a comeback, Gilgeous-Alexander’s third quarter kept the Thunder in it as he scored 12 points on 5-of-12 shooting.

With his team needing a bucket to create some space on the scoreboard, Gilgeous-Alexander spun his way into a four-foot layup that gave the Thunder a three-point lead with 1:05 left in the game.

While the efficiency wasn’t where it usually is, 31 points on 25 shots is an excellent outing considering the low-scoring nature of this game. Gilgeous-Alexander had an eventful night filled with highlight finishes around the rim.

Jalen Williams: A+

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An emphatic dunk felt like the seismic shift of this game. With 3:18 left, Jalen Williams found an open lane to the basket and threw down one of his loudest jams of the season to give the Thunder the two-point lead.

Despite it not reflecting on the scoreboard, the energy surrounding this game changed after that J-Dub dunk. More importantly, though, Williams played phenomenally as the second-best player for OKC in this monumental win.

Williams finished with 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting, 2-of-4 shooting from 3 and grabbed eight rebounds.

Lu Dort: A

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To start the game, Lu Dort was the most scrutinized player on the team by Thunder fans. By the end of the game, he was the most praised.

Such is the Lu Dort experience.

Dort finished with seven points on 3-of-11 shooting and went 1-of-8 from 3. It was a cold start for Dort as he started off 0-of-5 from 3.

But just like hitting a game-winner, all of that can be erased if you can step up when it matters most as that’s exactly what he did when he forced Kawhi Leonard to put up a bad shot at the end of the game in a one-point win.

“That was some possession because he took multiple attempts at drives,” Daigneault said. “Not surprising, he’s done it many times before.”

With literal game-changing possessions like that, it’s easier to understand why the Thunder stick by Dort despite the inconsistent shooting and subpar finishing.

Isaiah Joe: A

Needing bench production, Isaiah Joe stepped up with 12 points on 5-of-12 shooting and 2-of-8 shooting from 3. Joe tied with Olivier Sarr for the best plus-minus on the Thunder at a plus-8.

When the Thunder needed points in the second quarter, Joe provided seven points and showed off he’s more than an outside shooting threat as the Clippers forced him to create his own offense with surprisingly well results.

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Story originally appeared on Thunder Wire