Oklahoma City Thunder vs Los Angeles Clippers Prediction: Clippers have more depth

The NBA is in full swing and we have witnessed numerous exciting battles over the years, more than we can count on our fingers. This season itself has brought a rather surprising start with teams that are expected to hit the lottery winning a bunch of games. The Spurs and the Jazz have been great surprises thus far but we have a long season ahead. And the season seems to be long for the Oklahoma City Thunder that will take on the Los Angeles Clippers here.

The Thunder is yet to win but has given decent fightbacks lately, losing by 7, 5, and 10 points in their first three games. The trouble is that now they are without their points-racking Guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who scored 32, 28 in the first two games. To make the matters worse, the team’s best all-around player Josh Giddey is hurt too. Seriously, how worse can it get to begin the season but then they didn’t come here with too many expectations?

In absence of their two best players, the Thunder will rely heavily upon Luguentz Dort, who is not the answer to the woes of the team on the offensive end. Tre Mann can shoot but his scoring is nowhere near addressing the team’s needs on the end. The defense hasn’t looked as tight as last season while the rebounding end looks decent but now the team is bereft of playmakers and it seems like they may start with a lengthy losing streak.

The Clippers will come in here after suffering a 95:112 loss against the Suns. Marcus Morris Sr. had 22 points in that game. The tough part is going to be that they will be without Paul George and Marcus Morris in this game, which is going to hurt the scoring in big ways. The Clippers’ rotation still looks a bit off and their game plan will need to recalibrate considering they will be without two of their key players. Kawhi Leonard’s availability will inspire hope but he has played limited minutes.

This opens up doors for John Wall to do more and he has been doing his job as a scorer whereas Norman Powell has been horrendous so far and will need to pick up his game, he has really looked off the radar thus far. Ivica Zubac has been a solid rebounder and defender but his scoring is limited. Reggie Jackson and Luke Kennard are two solid guards but they have been buried in the deep rotation. I think the Clippers will need to figure out ways to identify lineups that can be effective on both ends.

The Clippers will be without their main scorer and so will be Thunder. However, the Clippers are much more loaded in other aspects and can keep on piling pain on both ends. They will be up against a Thunder team that doesn’t have the shine to compete against elite teams on most nights. If Kawhi plays here then I see John Wall, Norman Powell, Reggie Jackson, and Luke Kennard combining for a big offensive effort and nabbing a win. That’s why I’d back the Clippers and the total to be in the 220-230 range.