Chet Holmgren had 30 points and 14 rebounds, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 20 points and 11 assists, and the Oklahoma City Thunder clinched the NBA’s best record with a 128-110 victory over the Clippers on Wednesday night.
Jalen Williams scored 18 points for the NBA champion Thunder (64-16), who will have home-court advantage throughout the postseason in their title defense after holding off San Antonio (61-19), which is on an 18-2 run since February. Oklahoma City has won seven straight and 19 of 20 to earn the West’s No. 1 seed for the third straight season.
Kawhi Leonard scored 20 points and Brook Lopez added 16 for the eighth-place Clippers, who had won seven of nine. The Clippers are 35-18 since shortly before Christmas, but still must win one of their final two games to extend this once-moribund franchise’s streak to 15 consecutive winning seasons.
The Clippers (41-39) head to Portland (40-40) on Friday for a crucial game, with a one-game lead over the Trail Blazers. If the Clippers win, they will finish eighth in the West, while the Trail Blazers will finish ninth, where they’d need two wins in the play-in tournament to make the playoffs.
If the Clippers lose, they would need to win their season finale Sunday at home against Golden State and need the Trail Blazers to lose their finale at home against Sacramento. Otherwise, the Clippers would finish ninth.
(Phoenix clinched the No. 7 spot Wednesday with a 112-107 win over Dallas.)
While Gilgeous-Alexander scored at least 20 points in his record 141st consecutive game despite sitting out the fourth quarter, Leonard scored at least 20 in his 56th straight game. Leonard also remained on track to play in at least 65 games this season — his second-most in seven years with the Clippers, and enough to qualify for All-NBA consideration.
Holmgren scored 24 points in the first half and propelled the Thunder to an early 25-point lead. Oklahoma City hit 58.1% of its shots and thoroughly stifled the Clippers’ offense, allowing no fast-break field goals.
Darius Garland sat out for the Clippers to manage his toe injury. He hasn’t played in back-to-back games since they acquired him from Cleveland in a trade for James Harden.
Up next for the Clippers: At Portland on Friday.
