Clippers-Thunder Preview

By KATE HEDLIN
Posted Mar 21 2012 1:41AM

Once flying high, the Los Angeles Clippers are struggling to score.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are dealing with some inconsistency of their own.

The Clippers will visit their second playoff contender in as many nights when they continue a back-to-back-to-back stretch against the Western Conference-leading Thunder on Wednesday.

Los Angeles (26-19) has gone a season-high seven straight games without reaching 100 points, dropping four of those contests while falling 1 1/2 games behind the Lakers for the Pacific Division lead.

After consecutive victories over Houston and Detroit - each by four points, including one in overtime - the Clippers fell 102-89 at Indiana on Tuesday to open a trip of three games in as many nights.

They shot 43.5 percent from the field overall, 6 of 22 from 3-point range, and 9 of 20 at the free-throw line.

"We just stopped making shots," said Blake Griffin, who finished with a team-high 23 points to go with 10 rebounds. "A lot of shots that we normally hit did not go down, and that's going to happen. That's why we need to rely on our defense, and it hasn't really been there. That's what's going to happen until we get it figured out."

Chris Paul added 16 points and eight assists for the Clippers, who managed to take two of three during another back-to-back-to-back in January, though all three of those games took place at Staples Center - including a road loss to the Lakers.

All three contests are in different cities this time, concluding with a visit to New Orleans on Thursday.

"It's more mental than it is physical," Griffin said of the scheduling challenge.

Griffin and the Clippers may be facing the Thunder (34-12) at a good time. While Oklahoma City still leads the West, it has lost four of seven and is coming off a 97-90 defeat at Utah on Tuesday.

Griffin, who starred at the University of Oklahoma, is averaging 25.8 points and 10.8 rebounds in five career games versus the Thunder, including 31.5 points and 11.0 rebounds in two contests in Oklahoma City.

He had 22 points in the Clippers' 112-100 victory over the Thunder on Jan. 30 at Staples Center, as Los Angeles overcame 36 points from Kevin Durant and 31 from Russell Westbrook.

Durant and Westbrook are both looking to bounce back after a disappointing night against the Jazz.

Durant shot 6 of 22 for 18 points while Westbrook finished with 23 points, but had just three assists. Durant was held scoreless in the fourth quarter, missing seven field-goal attempts.

"It was a tough game for us," Durant told the Thunder's official website. "They came out and played really aggressive and they got it going. It was tough to stop. ... We were executing. We were getting good looks. We couldn't make a few."

Oklahoma City, which failed in its bid to win consecutive games for the first time since March 5 and 7, will try to get back on track during a three-game homestand which also includes matchups with Minnesota and Miami.

The Thunder have been just as inconsistent at home recently, losing three of five there after opening 17-1 at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

Thunder shut down Griffin, thump Clippers 114-91

By JEFF LATZKE
Posted Mar 22 2012 12:02AM

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) The lasting image from the previous time the Oklahoma City Thunder and Los Angeles Clippers played was Blake Griffin's emphatic dunk over Kendrick Perkins.

It was Perkins who delivered the facial this time.

Perkins hit Griffin in the face on a hard foul in the first quarter, setting the tone as the Thunder shut down the Clippers' All-Star and beat Los Angeles 114-91 on Wednesday night.

Playing in his hometown, Griffin was held to a career-low seven points and he didn't come close to dunking this time.

"I know with Blake, it seems like he feeds off of dunks," Perkins said. "If he gets a couple early dunks, he gets going."

Instead, Griffin ended up settling mostly for long jumpers and hook shots, and went just 3 for 11 from the field.

Perkins was called for a personal foul and his league-leading 11th technical foul a little over 5 minutes into the game when he clocked Griffin in the face at the right block.

"I wasn't trying to intentionally foul him," Perkins said. "It's just a part of it. It just happened."

Griffin called it "a little bit" of a hard foul. He never could get going offensively, though, and failed to score in double figures for the first time all season.

"They load up on Blake," coach Vinny Del Negro said. "He's shouldered a lot of the load for us most of the season and just had one of those games. ... He's trying to do all the little things. Just tonight he didn't have it going for us."

Kevin Durant had 32 points and nine rebounds, Russell Westbrook added 19 points and the Thunder dominated the interior, outrebounding Los Angeles 49-31 and holding a 44-22 scoring edge in the paint.

A night earlier, Oklahoma City was outscored 50-20 in the paint in a loss at Utah.

"I think we just protected the paint and played physical," Perkins said. "Before the game, Coach told us that they were more physical the last time we played them. So, I thought we came out and did what we needed to do to get the win and played physical."

Randy Foye started in place of Caron Butler and scored 23 points to lead Los Angeles, which hit 37 percent on a miserable shooting night from inside the 3-point line and failed to score 100 points for the eighth straight game.

After Oklahoma City's lead reached its largest point at 20 late in the third quarter, the Clippers reeled off 11 straight points to prompt Thunder coach Scott Brooks to call timeout and put both of his All-Stars back in the game 90 seconds into the fourth quarter.

Westbrook drove for a layup and Derek Fisher - signed just before the game after he bought out of his contract with Houston - followed a few possessions later with a 3-pointer from the left side for his first basket with the Thunder during a 12-2 response that restored the cushion to 100-81 with 6:13 left.

About 2 minutes later, Del Negro waved the white flag and sent in his reserves. The Clippers were in the middle game of a back-to-back-to-back set played entirely on the road. Los Angeles fell to 11-12 on the road this season, having lost six of its last eight.

Chris Paul finished with 13 points and 10 assists, and Nick Young scored 12 points in his second start with the Clippers after coming over in a trade with Washington.

Paul pointed out that Los Angeles is a different team from the first meeting, a 112-100 victory. Chauncey Billups was lost to a season-ending knee injury and the Clippers have lost 11 of 18 during a series of roster moves.

Paul said "it's getting to be a little bit embarrassing."

"A couple losses here and there and we're out of the playoffs," he added. "So, we've got to play with a sense of urgency. But most of all, we've got to be better."

The Thunder squandered an early 10-point lead after Perkins' hard foul but recovered to go up 66-50 at halftime behind a 30-16 scoring advantage in the paint. Durant converted a nifty reverse layup to start a string of eight straight points to finish the half.

At one point late in the third quarter, the Clippers were 10 for 18 from 3-point range but only 10 for 34 from inside the arc. For the game, they were 12 for 26 (46 percent) on 3s and 17 for 53 (32 percent) on 2-point attempts.

"We've got to understand that that team's been together but we've got to be better. We've got to figure out ways to score easier but most of all we've got to defend," Paul said. "They scored on basic plays against us. We've got to be willing to defend better in order to give ourselves a chance."

Notes: Oklahoma City reserve G Daequan Cook, who missed a game last week with a sore right shoulder, was out after spraining his knee in the fourth quarter a night earlier at Utah. Brooks had no update on when he'd return. ... Harden got a technical for taunting the Clippers' Eric Bledsoe after a dunk. Westbrook and Thabo Sefolosha each got techs after Westbrook fouled Paul on a fast break. ... Perkins has also has had three technicals rescinded or else would be in jeopardy of a one-game suspension.

Notebook: Thunder 114, Clippers 91

Posted Thursday March 22, 2012 12:13AM

By Randy Renner, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant scored 32 points and newly acquired point guard Derek Fisher played almost 20 minutes in leading the Thunder to a surprisingly easy 114-91 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. Fisher, who signed a contract just two hours before the game, scored five points on 1-for-3 shooting with one rebound, one assist and one blocked shot. Durant led all scorers with those 32 points. He also grabbed nine rebounds, handed out five assists, stole the ball twice and blocked a shot.

OKC point guard Russell Westbrook scored 19, forward Serge Ibaka added 15. The Clippers trailed most of the night and could never get their inside game going. Forward Blake Griffin managed just seven points and though point guard Chris Paul handed out 10 assists he was just 3-for-12 shooting. Guard Randy Foye just missed tying his season-high with 23 points on 9-for-15 shooting, including five 3-pointers. Paul added 13 and Nick Young dropped in 12. The Thunder dominated in the paint and on the boards and led by as many as 24 points.

QUOTABLE: "Defensively I thought we played good throughout the game. You wanna contest shots and we did that. Serge (Ibaka) and Nick (Collison) did a great job on (Blake Griffin) you just wanna stay between him and the basket. We even made his catches very tough."
--Thunder head coach Scott Brooks

QUOTABLE II: "I mean they load up on Blake. He has shouldered a lot of the load for us this season and he just had one of those games. Ibaka's physical and long and Perkins comes over to double team him and when he got his fourth foul it kinda took him out of rhythm."
-- Clippers head coach Vinny Del Negro

THE STAT: OKC outscored the Clippers 44-22 in the paint and held the Clippers to just 11-for-30 shooting (36.6 percent) down low. The Thunder outrebounded L.A. 49-31, 14 of those OKC rebounds were on the offensive glass.

TURNING POINT: A big 66 point first half gave the Thunder a 16-point cushion going in at halftime. Oklahoma City withstood an 11-0 Clippers run that brought the lead down to nine points early in the fourth quarter. The Thunder answered that spurt with a 12-2 run of their own and that was it. The Clippers are in a brutal stretch of eight games in 11 days and they didn't seem to have much gas left for a run at the end.

QUOTABLE III: "I don't know what game we're on now, it's a whirlwind. Every team has gone through it or is going through it. We've got to find a way to do better."
--Clippers forward Blake Griffin

HOT: The Thunder opened the game 7-for-8 (87.5 percent). ... Clippers guard Randy Foye was 5-for-6 (3-for-4 on 3-pointers) for 13 points in the first eight minutes...The Clippers were 7-for-9 (77.8 percent) on 3-pointers in the first 16 minutes of the game...OKC shot 62.5 percent (25-for-40) in the first half (15-for-21, 71.4 percent in the paint)...Thunder forward Serge Ibaka was 7-for-9 (15 points) early in the third quarter...Through three quarters the Clippers were 11-for-21 on 3-pointers (52.4 percent).

NOT: Clippers forward and Oklahoma City native Griffin was 2-for-6 (five points) in the first half. He finished 3-for-11. ... Through three quarters the Clippers were shooting 39 percent (23-for-59). ... it was even worse in the fourth quarter (30 percent) and L.A. finished at 36.7 percent. ... the Clippers were 1-for-5 on 3-pointers in the fourth quarter.

INSIDE THE ARENA: A rousing standing ovation from the sell-out crowd of 18,203 for newly acquired Thunder point guard Fisher. Fisher entered the game just past the two minute mark in the first quarter. Thunder head coach Scott Brooks told Fisher before the game, "you're going to get an 18-thousand person hug tonight when you go in the game."

GOOD MOVE: Bringing in Fisher. His veteran leadership and those five titles he helped win for the Lakers will play big in the Thunder locker room, especially with OKC's young stars.

QUOTABLE IV: "He's done it all, been through it all, has five championship rings, so you can learn a lot from him."
-- Westbrook

BAD MOVE: Complaining about much of anything to lead official Tony Brothers who handed out four technical fouls, all to Thunder players. OKC's Kendrick Perkins, Westbrook, James Harden and Thabo Sefolosha were "teed up" by Brothers. Clippers head coach Vinny Del Negro also collected a technical but not from Brothers.

NOTABLE: The Thunder is now 11-1 this season in games played after a loss. ... Perkins was called for a technical foul in the first quarter, his 11th "T" of the season. ... Westbrook was given a technical in the third quarter, his 10th of the season. A player is suspended one game after his 13th technical. ... The 66 points allowed by the Clippers in the first half were the most in any first half this season. ... The Clippers have lost the first two games of their back-to-back-to-back set and finish the trio of games in New Orleans Thursday night.

UP NEXT: For the Clippers, Thursday @ New Orleans, Saturday vs. Memphis, Monday vs. New Orleans. For the Thunder, Friday vs. Minnesota, Sunday vs. Miami, Tuesday @ Portland.

• Clippers: Billups
• Thunder: Cook, Maynor

• Clippers: Del Negro
• Thunder: Harden, Perkins, Sefolosha, Westbrook

• Lead Changes: 2
• Times Tied: 2

• Arena: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, OK
• Officials: #25 Tony Brothers, #38 Michael Smith, #77 Karl Lane
• Attendance: 18203
• Duration: 2:13