From top to bottom, the Oklahoma City Thunder constantly mentions having a 0-0 mindset.
For the Oklahoma City Blue, that will have to ring true over the next couple of days. The Blue lost to the San Diego Clippers Tuesday night, marking its second loss in as many days and putting a sour taste in the mouths if everyone involved ahead of a lengthy road trip.
“Nobody is going to feel sorry for us,” Blue coach Kameron Woods said. “There’s ups and downs every season. It probably feels like a down right now and those can last as long as you want.”
In the beginning, it seemed like the Blue had righted the ship after Monday’s loss to Raptors 905. OKC fired out of the gates, riding Malevy Leons, Ousmane Dieng and Miller Kopp to a 20-point lead in the first half. The Blue was doing everything a fan could’ve wanted on the offensive end. OKC generated ten points from the free throw line in the first quarter alone and shot over 40% from three.
With a Clippers team that lacks any player with legitimate NBA experience on the wrong end of the deficit, the game seemed all but over — until it didn’t.
Rookie second-rounder Cam Christie caught fire, scoring 15 first-half points and hitting a three at the buzzer to cut the OKC lead to only three points at halftime.
“I think I had two turnovers,” Kopp said. “I know we ended with a bunch. So taking care of the ball is always a big one because that’s the easiest way for teams to come back.”
Kopp sounded unsure when discussing what led to San Diego’s comeback, but his instinct was correct. OKC racked up 23 turnovers in the game, giving the Clippers multiple extra possessions. When Kopp went to the bench and Leons cooled down, OKC couldn’t string together consistent offense.
While OKC struggled to get good looks, the Clippers scorers went to work. Christie scored ten points in the second half and overtime and Trentyn Flowers and Kobe Brown joined him in killing the Blue. San Diego’s trio combined for 84 points, eventually pushing its team over the top.
Despite the second-half performance from San Diego’s stars, OKC was in a position to win with less than 15 seconds remaining. After Cormac Ryan hit two free throws to give OKC a three-point lead in the closing stages, it appeared that the Blue had fended off a Clippers team that had looked superior for 2.5 quarters — until Christie struck again.
Christie hit a contested three with 13 seconds left to tie the game and any air that was in the Paycom Center instantly left. From that point on, it was all San Diego.
San Diego hit two tough shots in overtime before winning on a transition dunk to hit the seven-point mark, which is how the G-League decides its overtime games.
With a three-game road trip coming up, losing in heartbreaking fashion on back-to-back nights is crushing for an OKC team looking to defend its G-League championship from last season. Despite the losses, Woods and the Blue have maintained what everyone in the OKC organization hammers home whenever adversity hits — a 0-0 mentality.
“We tell the team all the time (how) our record is 0-0,” Woods said. “So I tell the team, ‘get yourself back to zero, take the emotions out of the game.’ Focus on having a great game tomorrow.”
