Without Leonard, George, Clippers are no match for Thunder

OKLAHOMA CITY — The Clippers were extremely short-handed Tuesday night and an old friend saw to it that his team took full advantage of that opportunity.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 33 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated a Clippers team that was playing without All-Stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George and starting forward Marcus Morris Sr., 108-94, for their first win of the season.

Gilgeous-Alexander played after sitting out Sunday’s game against Minnesota with a bruised left hip. He was 11 for 22 from the field and 9 for 9 from the free-throw line while adding eight assists against his former team, which sent him to Oklahoma City as part of the trade that netted George.

Leonard experienced some stiffness in his surgically repaired right knee on Tuesday and will miss both games against Oklahoma City this week. Clippers coach Ty Lue said Leonard has not suffered a setback with his right ACL and that the team is just remaining extremely cautious with its franchise star.

Leonard will fly back to Los Angeles on Wednesday to receive treatment on his knee. The Clippers will see how Leonard is feeling before determining his status for Sunday’s home game against New Orleans.

“After shootaround, (he) experienced some stiffness in his knee,” Lue told reporters before the Clippers played the Thunder. “And so we want to be cautious, make sure we’re doing the right thing by him, even though he wanted to play. We just thought it wasn’t smart. He can be mad at us if he wants to but just not smart right now.”

George was out with a non-COVID-19 illness and Morris missed the game for personal reasons.

Leonard, who tore his right ACL in their second-round playoff series against Utah on June 14, 2021, played in two of the Clippers’ first three games entering Tuesday, logging 21 minutes each game. He came off the bench and played in three stints to be able to finish each game. When the Clippers played their first set of back-to-back games last weekend, Leonard sat out the first game in Sacramento.

While Leonard will return to L.A. for treatment, Lue said the two-time NBA Finals MVP isn’t scheduled to undergo any medical tests or examinations.

“Sending him back to L.A. because he has better resources for his rehab there,” Lue said. “And see what happens after that.”

“That’s part of the process when you have ACL surgery,” Lue said of the stiffness. “It’s known to happen to get a little stiffness, so we just got to be smart about it.”

Oklahoma City took advantage of all of the absences by holding the Clippers to 42% shooting, dominating them on the boards (60-47) and in the paint (62-48) and feasting on 19 Clipper turnovers. The Thunder took 110 shots to 83 for the Clippers.