**INGLEWOOD, Calif. —** In the opening minutes Tuesday night, James Harden reminded everyone why he was once the MVP.
In the third quarter, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander reminded everyone why he is the reigning MVP, and the Thunder reminded everyone in the Intuit Dome why they are the defending champs.
Gilgeous-Alexander took over the third quarter the way only an MVP can, scoring 18 points plus assisting on 13 more, accounting for 31 of the Thunder’s 38 points in the frame.
SGA’s energy sparked a 17-3 Thunder run starting late in the third quarter and heading into the fourth, and from there, they pulled away from the host Clippers for a comfortable 126-107 win.
It was a historic night, as the Thunder have now started 8-0 for the first time in franchise history, and this was the 80th consecutive game Gilgeous-Alexander scored at least 20 points (he finished with 30 and never had to touch the court in the fourth quarter).
“In the first quarter, I thought we’d got decent shots, but obviously Harden was himself was brilliant early in that game, I was told he had 12 points on the first three minutes,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said.
Harden sparked the Clippers early with 17 in the first, including shooting 4-of-5 from 3, and that put the Clippers up double-digits early.
The Clippers’ John Collins scored 11 of his 17 points in the second quarter, but the Clippers had eight turnovers in the frame, which turned into 15 Thunder points. With that, Oklahoma City started to walk the Clippers down, and with 3:38 in the second quarter the game was tied at 48-48.
Then came the third quarter and the SGA takeover.
Defensively, the Thunder cranked up the defensive ball pressure in the second half and that took Harden out of the flow, and with Kawhi Leonard out the Clippers struggled to create good looks. Derrick Jones Jr. added 16 points, but the Clippers’ offense started to drag as the Thunder defense reminded everyone why it is top-ranked in the league early this season.
Isaiah Joe was red hot, hitting 6-of-10 from 3-point range and finishing with 22 for the Thunder. Aaron Wiggins added a dozen points.
"\[Joe\] and Wiggins are the two guys that I think of with this ... they’re like system monsters,” Daigneault said. “They just play the system so cold, it’s so consistent that they just help everything work together, on \[the offensive\] end floor especially. And it’s not only the shooting gravity, but it’s the subtle ball movements, the spacing nuances, it’s the 3s in transition and screening.”
It’s all of those little things that have the Thunder 8-0 to start the season.
Well, those little things and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
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