Chet Holmgren scored 30 points and grabbed 14 rebounds while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 20 points with 11 assists as the Oklahoma City Thunder clinched the best record in the NBA with a 128-110 victory Wednesday over the Los Angeles Clippers in Inglewood, Calif.
Isaiah Joe scored 21 points off the bench and Jalen Williams added 18 as the Thunder (64-16) grabbed the Western Conference’s No. 1 playoff seed for the third consecutive season.
Oklahoma City, which won the franchise’s first NBA title last season, will have home-court advantage through the NBA Finals.
The Thunder pulled away in the second quarter to lead by as many as 25 points before finishing off their seventh consecutive victory. They have gone 19-1 starting Feb. 27 to hold off the San Antonio Spurs for the top seed. The Spurs lost ground despite going 18-2 since March 3.
Kawhi Leonard scored 20 points and Kobe Sanders added 17 off the bench for the Clippers (41-39), who have already clinched a spot in the play-in tournament following a 6-21 start to the season. Los Angeles played without Darius Garland (toe).
Brook Lopez and Jordan Miller each scored 16 points as the Clippers remained in eighth place in the Western Conference. The eighth and ninth seeds in the West will be decided Friday when the Clippers visit the Portland Trail Blazers.
Oklahoma City had the game well in hand with a 69-49 lead at halftime by shooting 58.1% from the floor and committing just three turnovers while holding the Clippers to 38.3%. The Thunder shot 57.8% in the game.
The Clippers used an 11-3 run in the third quarter to pull within 87-75 but Derrick Jones Jr. missed a 3-pointer that would have cut the deficit to single digits and the Thunder took a 94-80 lead into the fourth quarter.
Oklahoma City took a 101-83 lead on an Isaiah Hartenstein dunk with 10:11 remaining in the game as part of an 8-0 run. The Thunder extended the run to 13-2 for a 109-85 advantage with 8:45 left.
Gilgeous-Alexander (30 minutes) and Dort (20 minutes) did not play in the fourth quarter. Gilgeous-Alexander went 0 of 1 from the free-throw line and did not make a foul shot in a game for the first time this season.
–Field Level Media
