As valuable final seconds ticked away, Kawhi Leonard needed to hurry. He received the ball and went right. Hoping to create a driving lane against Alex Caruso, all he could muster was a deep contested midrange jumper. As Cason Wallace came over to help, Leonard quickly shot a turnaround fadeaway jumper that clanked the rim.

The critical defensive stop sealed the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 103-101 win over the LA Clippers. Battered and bruised without Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren, OKC dusted off its shoulders and went on the road to beat a red-hot LA squad.

“You gotta sometimes be able to win in the mud and we had to win in the mud tonight,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “Obviously, that was a hard-fought game. It was a possession game for a long time. The game wasn’t easy for either team and I thought our guys focus on being able to stack possessions and execute the play in front of us and not get caught up how the game was going was impressive.”

Early on, the Thunder finally looked human — a rarity in itself. Both teams struggled to score before the Clippers built a 34-24 lead after the first quarter. That was with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander playing the quarter, too. Without Williams and Holmgren, OKC’s bench lineup could’ve decided the outcome.

For the Thunder, Aaron Wiggins stepped up as the go-to scorer. They found a groove on offense while the Clippers struggled to generate buckets. In a surprising development, OKC had a 33-17 second-frame scoring advantage to enter halftime with a 57-51 lead.

Both teams couldn’t create distance on the scoreboard in the second half. The Clippers kept up with 26 points in the third quarter. The Thunder entered the final frame with a slight 81-77 advantage. A close contest was surely guaranteed.

That happened as neither team led by more than seven points in the fourth quarter. After Ben Simmons’ transition floater, the Thunder only had an 88-87 lead with eight minutes left. The rest of the contest was played within a single possession as they went back and forth.

Amir Coffey gave LA its first lead of the second half at the free-throw line. Playing a 91-90 score with seven minutes left, the Thunder quickly answered on the other end. The final two minutes filled the air with drama, resembling a playoff-esque atmosphere.

Down 99-97, Lu Dort found Caruso for the corner 3-pointer. After James Harden turned it over on the other end with a lazy inbound pass, Caruso scored at the free-throw line when he was fouled in transition. The Thunder suddenly had a 101-99 lead with 1:33 left.

Fast forward to a minute later and the Clippers had the ball with a 101-100 deficit. Norman Powell’s 3-pointer missed but the ball ricocheted to Ivica Zubac for the offensive rebound. Leonard had 17 seconds to score a possible game-winner but settled for a deeply contested jumper that missed.

Down by three points with three seconds left, Caruso smartly fouled Leonard to go to the freethrow line. He intentionally missed the second attempt but the Clippers couldn’t come up with a last sixthof- a-second miracle. The Thunder shot 40% from the field and went 12-of-35 (34.3%) from 3. They shot 17-of-20 on free throws. They had 28 assists on 37 baskets. Six Thunder players scored double-digit points.

Gilgeous-Alexander had 26 points but on 29 shot attempts. Wiggins stepped up with 19 points. Isaiah Hartenstein had a 14-point double-double. Caruso finished with 14 points. Dort had 10 points and four rebounds in his return from hip impingement. Jaylin Williams contributed with 12 points and seven rebounds off the bench.

Meanwhile, the Clippers shot 43% from the field and went 8-of-26 (30.8%) from 3. They shot 23-of-28 on free throws. They had 20 assists on 35 baskets. Three Clippers players scored double-digit points.

Leonard led the way with 25 points on 10-of-20 shooting, 10 rebounds and three assists. Harden had 17 points on 4-of-14 shooting, eight assists and five rebounds. Zubac tallied 15 points and 11 rebounds. Powell was limited to nine points on 4-of-12 shooting.

You just know the veteran Clippers had this game circled on their calendar. After all, it’s a possible playoff preview. So for OKC to finish off the four-game sweep of its regular-season series between the squads is as much about flexing its dominance as creeping closer to 60 wins.

Even though the Thunder have locked up the first seed, these experiences could pay dividends in the playoffs. To go to LA and beat one of the hottest teams fully healthy is such a confidence boost. Add in Williams’ and Holmgren’s absence, and the impressiveness of this victory multiples tenfold.

“I thought we just played through everything tonight. That was an ugly game, a low 100s game, a possessions game for the last whole fourth quarter,” Daigneault said. “I didn’t think Shai had his best game tonight. He missed shots he normally makes. It was a hard game. To the credit of the team, we stayed present and played the possession in front of us. That’s what you need in the playoffs.”