Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 30 points with 12 rebounds against his former team and Isaiah Joe added 22 as the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder remained undefeated with a 126-107 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday.
Aaron Wiggins and Cason Wallace each scored 12 points and Chet Holmgren added 11 as the Thunder improved to 8-0 to set a franchise record for longest winning streak to open a season. Oklahoma City won the first game of a four-game road trip.
Gilgeous-Alexander, who had a solid season for the Clippers in 2018-19, was traded to Oklahoma City after his rookie campaign in the deal that brought Paul George to Los Angeles.
James Harden scored 25 points and John Collins added 17 as the short-handed Clippers lost home games on successive nights after falling to the Miami Heat on Monday.
Derrick Jones Jr. scored 16 points and Brook Lopez added 12 for Los Angeles, without leading scorer Kawhi Leonard (ankle) and veteran guard Bradley Beal (knee).
Harden wasted no time establishing himself as the Clippers’ main threat when he scored his team’s first 12 points to take an early 12-2 lead. Los Angeles led by 13 points in the first quarter.
The Thunder rallied in the second quarter, tying the game 48-48 with 3:39 left before halftime and leading by a point for a short time in the final minute before the Clippers took a 57-56 lead into the break.
The Clippers led for the final time at 75-74 with 4:23 left in the third after a reverse layup by Bogdan Bogdanovic. Oklahoma City closed the quarter on back-to-back 3-pointers from Joe and Gilgeous-Alexander for a 94-86 lead.
The Thunder extended the run to 17-0 to open the fourth and led 105-86 with 9:12 left after an alley-oop dunk by Chet Holmgren.
After shooting 46.3% from the floor in the first half, the Thunder shot 52.3% in the game compared to 41.2% by the Clippers.
–Field level media
