Five takeaways from the Clippers’ 100-99 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder

The Clippers got everything but the ending right. They played with more vitality and togetherness before Kevin Durant made a pull-up jumper and blocked Chris Paul’s shot in the final second to help the Oklahoma City Thunder emerge with a 100-99 victory Monday night at Staples Center.

Here are five takeaways from the game:

1. The Clippers have played with, but haven’t beaten, the top teams in the West. They’re now 0-4 against Golden State, San Antonio and Oklahoma City, despite having led in the fourth quarter of each game.

“I think we’ve played them all well, so that’s the encouraging sign,” Clippers Coach Doc Rivers said. “We haven’t pulled them out yet. I think we have, like, 45 games left, and we’ve just got to keep working and getting better.”

Said Paul: “Doc keeps saying, ‘We’re right there; we’re right there.’ We need to get there now.”

2. Rivers probably won’t want to look at the referees’ last-two-minute report. Rivers felt the referees missed Dion Waiters’ holding J.J. Redick’s jersey on a three-point attempt with 61 seconds left and a foul on Russell Westbrook as Paul drove for the layup that pushed the Clippers into a 99-98 lead with 10 seconds to go.

How might Rivers feel if the referee report shows he was correct? “It won’t matter,” Rivers said. “It’s frustrating, though. And it’s not like they’re doing it on purpose, but these are games that in the West, you need every game, so it gets very frustrating from a coaching standpoint.”

3. Cole Aldrich excelled during a surprise extended appearance. There was an unprecedented sight for the Clippers in the first quarter when Aldrich checked in to play meaningful minutes for the first time this season. The reserve center made the most of them, diving on the court for a steal and taking a pass from Lance Stephenson for a layup that Aldrich acknowledged by patting Stephenson on the rump on the way back up the court.

Aldrich’s best sequence came in the fourth quarter when he blocked a shot by Westbrook and then took a pass from Wesley Johnson for a dunk.

Rivers said he went with Aldrich instead of Josh Smith because he felt like Aldrich would energize the Clippers. Absolutely correct.

“I think that was a prime example of being a star in your role and not trying to reach outside of that,” Clippers forward Blake Griffin said. “He just did what we need him to do, and that’s huge.”

Aldrich said Rivers gave him no indication he was going to play after having logged only 24 minutes earlier this season in a mop-up role. But Aldrich said he figured he might have earned more time with his energetic play at the end of the Clippers’ loss to the Houston Rockets. He finished with five points, four rebounds, three steals and two blocks in 13 minutes against the Thunder.

“If we play this way the rest of the year, we’re going to win a lot of games,” Aldrich said. “We played with a lot of heart and a lot of enthusiasm, and it was fun out there. It’s a way that we can get back on our feet on Christmas.”

Rivers said Smith took his demotion well, but the true test of whether Aldrich has supplanted Smith in the rotation will be if he plays against teams that use smaller lineups than the Thunder.

4. Griffin picked a bad time to have his worst shooting game of the season. He missed 10 of his first 11 shots before getting into a bit of a groove and adding a dunk in the final minute that briefly put the Clippers ahead but acknowledged afterward that his shooting struggles “kind of cripples” the offense for his team. Griffin was probably overdue for a clunker, though, so there should be no worry about a carryover going forward.

5. Paul appears to be regaining some of his aggressiveness. He’s topped 20 points twice and 30 points once in his past four games while making more than 50% of his shots three times. He’s also collected 10 or more assists in three consecutive games for the first time all season, showing that he may be putting injuries to his finger, eye, ribs and groin behind him.

“I’m getting a lot better every day,” Paul said.

Times correspondent Melissa Rohlin contributed to this report.

Twitter: @latbbolch