Oklahoma City has already secured a couple of wins, and it should be able to lean on its identity for a 3-0 start. 

After wins against the San Antonio Spurs and Denver Nuggets to tip off the new season, the Thunder will be facing another Western Conference foe as they look to remain unbeaten. The LA Clippers will be in town on Sunday night for the front half of a back-to-back. 

The Clippers were one of many teams around the league to make significant changes in the offseason, and they’ll bring their new look to Oklahoma City for the first time. For the Thunder to get a win over the Clippers, playing to their strengths will be key, specifically dominating the turnover battle. 

In the Clippers’ loss against the Lakers on Friday night, turnovers were a clear issue for both teams, but it ultimately led to the first loss for Darius Garland’s squad. The former All-Star guard turned the ball over nine times in that contest, and the Thunder will be looking to pounce on him again in this matchup. 

While Garland’s nine turnovers led the way for LA in its first loss of the season, he’s been far from the only Clipper prone to turnovers. Through the first few days of the season, the Clippers are tied for the most turnovers per game at 22 and have the league’s worst turnover percentage at 18.8%. 

It’s a long season, and Tyronn Lue and company will have plenty of time to figure out their problems on that end, but it seems unlikely that there will be any resolution coming in time to avoid another turnover fest against the Thunder. So far, the Clippers actually have been better at turning their opponents over than Oklahoma City, but that may also have something to do with the difference in competition the two have played. 

In any case, the Thunder should be in a great position to showcase their turnover-forcing abilities and get some easy points in transition throughout the night. Although the Thunder have two double-digit wins, they haven’t been able to dominate from start to finish, but that could easily change if the turnover battle swings their way significantly against LA. 

Plus, this matchup could be a great way for Cason Wallace to showcase his defense as the Thunder’s top perimeter defender, likely matched up against Garland for most of the night. Whether it be Wallace or any of the Thunder’s other defenders, forcing turnovers should be a specialty for the Thunder against the Clippers.