Five takeaways from the Clippers’ loss to Oklahoma City

The Los Angeles Clippers lost to the Thunder, 120-111, on Friday night in Oklahoma City.

Paul George was tough to stop, scoring 42 points against the Clippers. Here are five takeaways from the game:

1. Lou Williams was smooth and effortless in his attack for the Clippers against the Thunder.

He easily poured in a team-high 35 points, scoring on runners, drives, three-pointers. His play is what kept the Clippers from getting blown out.

His points were the most by a Clipper this season as well as the most off the bench in a game this season in the NBA.

His output made him the first Clipper to score 30-plus points off the bench since Jamal Crawford did it at New Orleans on March 26, 2014.

Williams was 13-for-22 shooting from the field, including six of 12 from three-point range. He also had seven rebounds and three assists.

Williams played 39 minutes, 6 seconds and did not record a turnover during this time.

“Lou was phenomenal,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said.

2. The short-handed Clippers, who were without two guards because of injury, called on rookie Sindarius Thornwell to start in the backcourt, and he answered the bell.

It was more than his 10 points on four-for-five shooting.

It really was more than his ability to defend Russell Westbrook and Paul George and Carmelo Anthony on different occasions.

It was really Thornwell’s poise that served him well.

“Sindarius defensively was phenomenal,” Rivers said. “He’s a rookie. That’s all I’m going to say. But he’s going to be a great defensive player. Like tonight, he guarded every single guy on the floor, didn’t complain. He just kept coming.”

3. Jawun Evans was another of the rookies that the Clippers relied on against the Thunder. The point guard came off the bench to play 16:48.

Evans had only three points on one-for-four shooting, but he was very good on defense, finishing with a plus-20 in the plus/minus category while often matched up against Westbrook.

“I thought Jawun gave us tremendous minutes,” Rivers said. “Defensively, I thought he was good too.”

4. In the nearly 21 minutes that Willie Reed played, it was nothing but positive time.

He didn’t miss any of his six shots, finishing with 15 points. He collected eight rebounds and had one assist.

The big center also took three charges.

5. The Clippers knew they had to take care of the basketball in order to have a chance at slowing down and beating the Thunder.

L.A. failed to do that, turning the ball over 19 times. That led to 24 points for the Thunder.

broderick.turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @BA_Turner