featured-image

Clippers Not Taking Thunder Lightly In Opener Without Durant

Rowan Kavner

PLAYA VISTA, Calif. – Head coach Doc Rivers made it clear what will happen if the Clippers don’t take the Thunder seriously without star forward Kevin Durant in the home opener tonight at STAPLES Center.

“If we don’t, we’ll lose,” Rivers said. “That’s the bottom line. I thought last year in the games we came ready mentally and physically, we were hard to beat. The games we didn’t, we won half of them. Those other half, you look back on it, you’d have loved to have won two more games.”

The Thunder only had nine players available last night in their season-opening 106-89 loss to the Trail Blazers, leaving guard Russell Westbrook to score a team-leading 38 points on a team-leading 26 shots.

Oklahoma City’s losses of Durant and point guard Reggie Jackson, among others, were noticeable. But Chris Paul made it clear yesterday what he thought about facing any team with Westbrook.

“You could put him on the court with the Bad News Bears, he’s going to be ready to play,” Paul said. “So we’ve got to be ready.”

Paul said after watching the game that Westbrook was unbelievable early and carried the Thunder. Westbrook got to the free throw line 16 times and was the only Thunder player with more than 14 points.

Rivers said he doesn’t even focus on whether or not Durant is in the game. He still thinks the Thunder are a formidable opponent as long as they’ve got Westbrook and Serge Ibaka on the floor, as the Clippers found out last playoff series.

“They’re a team that beat us. They’re in our way, and now we’re in their way,” Rivers said. “That’s what makes the games so good. Both teams know that.”

DeAndre Jordan said the Clippers aren’t going to change the way they attack or defend. He said they’re going to play as if their opponents were at full strength, even if that’s clearly not the case for the Thunder.

Spencer Hawes admitted losing a player of Durant’s caliber will change things for a team, but he thought Oklahoma City’s play still looked similar and they still have plenty of pieces to account for.

Meanwhile, Jordan Farmar thought the Thunder looked significantly different without Durant, and the Clippers guard said the obvious focus has to be making Westbrook uncomfortable.

“They looked really good early,” Farmar said. “It looked like Westbrook had to carry a lot of the load and seemed to get tired as the game wore on, but that’s kind of how it’s going to be for them. We just have to make sure we put a lot of pressure on him and try to hold down the other guys.”

Farmar and Hawes, both newcomers to the Clippers this year, get the sense how much this one means to the Clippers veterans after losing to the Thunder in the postseason last year. While some players and coaches will talk about how every regular season game is equally important, both Hawes and Farmar feel there’s some extra weight in this particular opener.

“Absolutely,” Hawes said. “I think any time you lost to a team, especially when you’re that close, you have a little extra something coming into the next year. I can’t speak to being a part of it, but I definitely sense a little bit of that.”

RELATED CONTENT