Nikola Topic Makes Season Debut

The Oklahoma City Thunder lost a heartbreaker against the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night.

Let us count the ways it was painful defeat. The team had fought back from 15 points down to take a late lead. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's game-winning attempt went halfway down and rattled back out. It was a one point loss. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 40 points, Jared McCain hit seven 3 pointers and Isaiah Hartenstein had a 21 point/16 rebound effort and it still was not enough. The Clippers were just 2-8 coming into the game so it felt like a get right opportunity. The setback snapped a nine game win streak over the Clippers. The game marked the first time since April 2024 that the Thunder lost three in a row.

And while all of those reasons have culminated in the toughest stretch of games that Oklahoma City has endured in quite some time, there was still one feel good Thunder storyline to highlight from the loss.

Nikola Topic made his long awaited 2026-2027 season debut.

Not only that, but all things considered, he played pretty well. Topic notched 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals in his 16 minutes. While the Serbian point guard didn't score, he did a solid job initiating the offense while Gilgeous-Alexander sat. He could have easily had a few more assists as he set up teammates for some good looks that were not converted. Topic also made some small, winning hustle plays that don't show up on the stat sheet.

The 21 year old was considered a top five (at worst) talent in the 2024 NBA Draft. He tore his ACL before draft night and fell to OKC at #12 overall. Topic missed his first season while in recovery. He was set to play at the beginning of his second year until a shocking testicular cancer diagnosis. Remarkably, Topic underwent three bouts of chemotherapy, beat the cancer and made his NBA debut in the middle of last season. Unfortunately, he was forced to undergo back surgery over the summer and has spent the first few weeks of this season rehabbing and getting himself into game shape.

After two quick games with the OKC Blue, Topic got the call up against the Clippers. The depleted Thunder can use all the healthy bodies they can get. For OKC at the moment, the best ability is availability.

Judging from Topic's season debut, he still has some other abilities that may help as well.