Justin Russo

San Diego Clippers announced their 2026-27 training camp roster.

🚨 STORY: Sunday was always going to be tough—on the road against the mighty Thunder. But the Clippers are becoming a team that plays exceedingly hard, and it’s giving them a fighting chance every night. Now, just clean up the turnovers, which cost them again: justinrusso.substack.com/p/clippers-s...

List of rookies in the last decade to post at least 10 PTS, 3 REB, 3 AST in 3 consecutive games to open their career: - Keaton Wagler (2026) - VJ Edgecombe (2025) - Ja Morant (2019) - Luka Dončić (2018) - Ben Simmons (2017)

Keaton Wagler is the first Clippers rookie since Terry Cummings (1982) to open a career with 3 consecutive games of at least 10 PTS and 3 AST. Wagler is the second rookie in NBA history to do it with all 3 games coming off the bench (0 starts), joining Paul Graham in 1991.

Kris Dunn became the 9th player in Clippers franchise history to post at least 15 points, 5 assists, 5 steals, and 2 blocks in a game. Last to do it was Kawhi Leonard. The last guard to do it was Eric Bledsoe. Fifth player since 1995 to do it for the team.

F: Thunder 108, Clippers 101. Kris Dunn 15 pts, 6 ast, 4 reb, 5 stl, 2 blk; Clippers fought hard, just too many turnovers again. Like Friday, another 26 turnovers. Clippers are 1-2. But a tough situation with Jalen Williams injury that happened late. Clippers home on Wednesday.

Jalen Williams was down on the floor with a towel over his lower left leg. His ankle snapped. Oh man. Williams had his left leg stabilized by medical personnel and was stretchered off. Just an awful situation.

One game after 26 team turnovers, the Clippers have coughed it up 23 times. As Tyronn Lue said Friday night, it is extremely hard to beat good teams doing that.

Per Clippers: This is Kris Dunn’s 2nd career game with at least 15 points, 5 assists and 5 steals. (Last: 1/8/2020 at New Orleans).

End 3Q: Thunder 77, Clippers 76. Kris Dunn 15 pts, 4 reb, 3 ast, 4 stl; Darius Garland 14 pts, 9 ast. Clippers led by as much as 7 in the third. Shooting 46% overall but have 19 TOV. Been a grind.

Clippers have maintained that same energy from the first half all the way into the third quarter, something that Isaiah Jackson said they did not do on Friday against the Lakers. They’re on a 6-0 run and lead the Thunder 64-57.

Isaiah Jackson made a jumper from 15.00 feet with 9:45 left in the third quarter tonight. It is the longest distance on a made 2-pointer by Jackson since March 1, 2024, when he made a 16.17-foot jumper. That was 968 days ago.

Jared McCain started the second half in place of Cason Wallace.

Clippers held Thunder to 66.0 points per 100 possessions in the half-court during the first half. Clippers weren’t much better themselves (76.2), but the defense was good.

First half advanced numbers: LAC 43.2 FG%, 40.5 xFG% (+2.7) OKC 36.0 FG%, 53.8 xFG% (-17.8) LAC 54.1 eFG%, 49.7 xeFG% (+4.4) OKC 41.0 eFG%, 58.4 xeFG% (-17.4)

HT: Clippers 46, Thunder 43. Kris Dunn 11 pts; Darius Garland 6 ast; Keaton Wagler 5 reb, 4 ast. Clippers shot 44%, Thunder 37%. Clippers 14 TOV, Thunder 11 TOV.

Clippers lead Thunder 41-36 despite Darius Garland and Rui Hachimura being a combined 1 of 11 FG.

Thunder are 14 of 42 (33%) from the field and the Clippers have also forced 10 TOV.

This is what I mean with Gradey Dick. He is always hustling and a major crasher of the glass. He gets it. Positive steps.

End 1Q: Thunder 23, Clippers 20. Kris Dunn 7 pts. Clippers forced 7 Thunder TOV. Both teams shot 38%. Clippers had a late 8-0 run to get back in after falling behind by 9.

Gradey Dick has actually put together some very, very good tape in his nine quarters of basketball with the Clippers to start this season. There’s actual tangible impact there from a role-player perspective, and I think that’s something for them to be excited about.

Cason Wallace appears to have suffered some type of left shoulder injury after being on the wrong end of an illegal screen from Isaiah Jackson. Wallace was down on the floor for a bit, holding the shoulder, but has since gone to the locker room.

In the first two games, Kobe Sanders was the first guard/wing off the bench for the Clippers. Tonight in Oklahoma City, that honor goes to rookie Keaton Wagler, who was sitting at the scorer’s table ready to check in before the mandatory timeout hit.

Frenetic first five or so minutes in Oklahoma City, as the Clippers and Thunder are knotted at 12-12. Clippers have forced 4 Thunder turnovers. Both teams with a pair of made 3s.

Last time the Clippers won in Oklahoma City was March 3, 2020. They’ve lost 9 in a row and 15 of the last 16 trips there.

LA CLIPPERS STARTERS, Oct. 25 at OKC: Darius Garland Kris Dunn Derrick Jones Jr. Rui Hachimura Isaiah Jackson

LA CLIPPERS INJURY REPORT - OCT. 25 OUT Bradley Beal - Right Knee Injury Management Brandon Ingram - Right Heel Surgery Jordan Miller - Left Rotator Cuff Surgery Yanic Konan Niederhäuser- Right Lisfranc Surgery Max Strus - Right Plantar Fascia Partial Tear

Unless I looked at it wrong, which is a distinct possibility, last night was Luka Dončić’s worst offensive impact game since March 12, 2019, which was his rookie season. Posted a -8.2 oNet last night. That would be the second-worst mark of his NBA career.

Keaton Wagler is the third rookie since the Clippers have moved to Los Angeles (1984) to begin his career with back-to-back games of at least 13 PTS and 3 AST. Blake Griffin (2010) and Lamar Odom (1999) are the others.

Tyronn Lue with more on the defense: “It’s something that we drill, we talk about, we just gotta see it, they gotta see it, and then understand the reason why we’re doing it. But if you let Luka [Dončić] get downhill, Austin Reaves get downhill, they’re really good passers...”

Tyronn Lue on second-half defense: “He (Walker Kessler) got a lot of over the top passes, a lot of layups and dunks. We had to do a better job of just keeping him out of the paint, taking care of his rolls. ... We didn’t trust tonight as far as defensively being in the paint.”

Tyronn Lue on Darius Garland’s 9 TOV: “He’ll be better next game. But knowing that he’s the head of the snake and to take care of the basketball, score the basketball and also get guys involved. But teams are gonna throw a lot of different looks, so he’s gotta be ready for it.”

Tyronn Lue on Clippers’ 26 turnovers last night: “We had to be better. They did a couple things, but we got to care of the basketball. You can’t play against a good team and turn it over 26 times and expect to win the game. We fought, we played hard, but we didn’t play smart.”

Rui Hachimura POSTGAME | LA Clippers vs Los Angeles Lakers | October 23, 2026: youtu.be/GJo9Tl6vyiE

Tyronn Lue POSTGAME | LA Clippers vs Los Angeles Lakers | October 23, 2026: youtu.be/b5mA9sc7Tbs

Darius Garland on career-high 9 TOV tonight: “Just me getting in the paint, getting too deep, predicting my passes, not shooting the floaters instead of just passes.” Garland added he’ll watch film, “see where I messed up, slow the game down, relax, be patient, play my part.”

Tyronn Lue: “26 turnovers is just too much to overcome.”

F: Lakers 125, Clippers 117. Darius Garland 26 pts, 6 ast, 9 tov; Brook Lopez 22 pts; Rui Hachimura 16 pts, 6 reb. Clippers had 26 TOV. Hard to overcome that. Lakers shot 62% in the second half. Clippers are 1-1. They’re at Oklahoma City on Sunday.

Darius Garland has hit an (unfortunate) new career high with 9 turnovers tonight.

Clippers are still in this but will need to play perfect over the final 4:21, tasked with a 119-109 deficit.

Lakers have opened up a 112-97 lead with 8:12 left. Clippers have 24 turnovers that have resulted in 33 points. They’re shooting just 44% in the second compared to the Lakers’ 69%. Lakers are 20 of 29 since halftime.

End 3Q: Lakers 103, Clippers 90. Brook Lopez 22 pts. Lakers closed the quarter on a 16-7 run. Clippers gave up 76 points over the second and third frames.

Clippers turned the ball over 4 times in the first 4 minutes of the third quarter.

HT: Clippers 64, Lakers 64. Brook Lopez 15 pts, Rui Hachimura 12 pts. Clippers shot 56% (47.4 xFG%). Largest lead was 11 by Clippers. Team had 12 TOV.

Cook Lopez? Brook has 12 points in THREE minutes.

End 1Q: Clippers 31, Lakers 27. Brook Lopez 7 pts, Derrick Jones Jr. 6 pts. Clippers shot 63% (51.5 xFG%) and made 6 of their 8 3-point attempts.

Tyronn Lue on how going against Kris Dunn and Derrick Jones Jr. has helped Keaton Wagler: “It’s been great for him. I think KD being physical with him, picking him up full court, DJ doing the same, just trying to give him different looks at how teams are going to play him.”

Tyronn Lue on managing Keaton Wagler’s emotions facing a player like Luka Dončić for the first time: “He’ll be all right. ... If you come in as a Top 5 pick and you want to be one of the best players, you got to go against the best. I’m pretty sure he’s up for the challenge.”

Darius Garland warming up tonight for Clippers at Lakers.

LA CLIPPERS INJURY REPORT - OCT 23 OUT: Bradley Beal - Right Knee Injury Management Brandon Ingram - Right Heel Surgery Jordan Miller - Left Rotator Cuff Surgery Yanic Konan Niederhäuser- Right Lisfranc Surgery Max Strus - Right Plantar Fascia Partial Tear