Leonard scores 32, Clippers beat Thunder without

George

LOS ANGELES (AP) —  In their first game after losing Paul George to a knee injury, the Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 127-105 on Thursday night. scored 32 points on 15 shots.

Since late January, it was the Clippers' first lopsided victory.

Tyronn Lue, the head coach, said, "This was a really good win for us." "We required it,"

The night before, George suffered a right knee sprain in the waning seconds of a 101-100 loss to the Thunder. In two to three weeks, he will undergo a new evaluation, which will probably prevent him from playing the rest of the regular season, which ends on April 9.

Bones Hyland, who led the bench in scoring with 16 points in his first game action since March 3, said, "We got to handle our business on the floor and keep tallying wins for PG."

To end the third quarter, the Clippers went on a 27-12 run, including 10 straight, to take a 92-80 lead into the fourth.

Between the end of the third and the beginning of the fourth, they made seven straight 3-pointers, with and Hyland each making three. The other three-pointer by Leonard increased the Clippers' advantage to 101-85.

The Clippers persisted, making three more 3-pointers in a row, the last of which increased their lead to 114-89. In the fourth, they outscored the Thunder 35-25.

With four 3-pointers each from Batum and Hyland, Los Angeles shot 49% from beyond the arc.

For the Clippers, Westbrook added 24 points and seven assists.

We played very quickly, according to Westbrook. played quickly, particularly in the second half.

tallied 30 points to lead the Thunder. Jalen Williams had 16, with 18 being added.

Leonard said of former Clipper Gilgeous-Alexander, "He was still effective." All we could do was make things more difficult for him.

By a score of 51-30, the Clippers' bench outscored the Thunder's.

Leonard said, "They did a great job coming in and providing energy.

TIP-INS

Thunder: In the paint, they outscored the Clippers 46-38.

Westbrook scored 12 points for the Clippers in the second quarter, and Eric Gordon replaced George in the starting lineup. For the first time in three games this season, the Thunder were defeated.

NEXT UP

Thunder: Finish a back-to-back by remaining in Los Angeles to play the Lakers on Saturday.

On Saturday, the Clippers host the New Orleans Pelicans.