Clippers Rout Thunder 120-98, But Lose Chris Paul To Thumb Injury

Last month, Chris Paul sat out with a left hamstring strain and the Los Angeles Clippers lost six straight games. He returned shortly after their current winning streak began.

Clippers Rout Thunder 120-98, But Lose Chris Paul To Thumb Injury

On Monday, the Clippers lost Paul to a sprained left thumb, but still managed to defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder 120-98 at home to win their seventh consecutive game (every game since 2017 started).

The Clippers tied a franchise record for their best start to a calendar year at 7-0. The team began 1974 with the same mark when the club was located in Buffalo. Los Angeles owns the NBA’s longest active winning streak despite missing injured star Blake Griffin.

Paul, who had eight points, six assists and three rebounds when he left the game shortly before halftime, will undergo an MRI exam Tuesday to assess the seriousness of his injury. The Clippers said the point guard had X-Rays during the game that were negative for broken bones.

“Guards know. That’s the one injury we get,” said Clippers Coach Doc Rivers, who was a point guard during his NBA playing career. “It’s that reach, thumb, flip-back, and you know the pain. I’m sure CP was thinking the worst at that time.”

Despite Paul’s injury, the Clippers shot 55 percent and improved to 16-0 when hitting 50 percent or better. They also outscored the Thunder in the paint, 62-34.

”Our whole goal was to own the paint,” Rivers said.

J.J. Redick scored 20 points, and DeAndre Jordan added 19 points and 15 rebounds for the Clippers. Jordan sat out the fourth when Marreese Speights dunked and hit two three-pointers.

Russell Westbrook had 24 points on 7-of-19 shooting in three quarters for Oklahoma City, the last team to defeat the Clippers on New Year’s Eve. He was the only starter in double digits for the Thunder.

”We weren’t ready to play and we didn’t play good defense and they were more physical than us,” Westbrook said. ”We were sluggish.”

The Clippers took a 22-point lead in the second quarter, and Thunder coach Billy Donovan echoed Westbrook’s statement about his team’s performance.

”We didn’t move the ball and we were stagnant,” Donovan said. ”We gave them opportunities. We weren’t ready to play.”

Thunder center Steven Adams sat out with a concussion sustained at Sacramento on Sunday night.

Clippers guards Austin Rivers and Jordan were hit with technical fouls. They’re expected to donate their fines to a charity of their choice under a program Rivers announced earlier this month as a way to reduce the team’s high number of technicals.

The Thunder next visit the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday in the fourth game of their six-game trip. The Clippers will host Minnesota on Thursday.

LOS ANGELES, CA – JANUARY 16: Chris Paul #3 of the LA Clippers knocks the ball away from Russell Westbrook #0 of the Oklahoma City Thunder during the first half at Staples Center on January 16, 2017 in Los Angeles, California.

Article by Pablo Mena