Clippers-Thunder Preview

By MATT BEARDMORE
Posted Apr 10 2012 3:16PM

The Oklahoma City Thunder are atop the Western Conference, but that could change Wednesday night.

The Los Angeles Clippers need a win or they could also fall in the tightly bunched West standings.

Oklahoma City goes for its third consecutive victory overall and fourth in a row at home over the Clippers in the first of two games between these teams over the next six days.

A season-worst three-game skid last week dropped the Thunder (42-15) percentage points behind surging San Antonio for the top spot in the conference. They regained first place Monday when they defeated Milwaukee 109-89 and the Spurs' 11-game winning streak ended at Utah.

"It reaffirmed we are definitely a top-tier team in this league," point guard Russell Westbrook said after scoring a team-best 26 points and handing out seven assists.

The Thunder have two of the top scorers in the NBA in Westbrook (24.2 points per game) and Kevin Durant (27.6), but it's their defense that could help them make a deep postseason run. Among the league's best by holding teams to 42.5 percent shooting, Oklahoma City has limited six April opponents to 38.4 percent and 89.5 points.

The Thunder also have 16 steals and 20 blocked shots since their last loss. Serge Ibaka had five blocks against the Bucks while Thabo Sefolosha set a career high with seven steals.

"I thought our defensive mindset was outstanding from the start," coach Scott Brooks said of Oklahoma City building a 35-18 first-quarter lead Monday.

The Thunder are 24-5 at home, but they could find themselves back in second place by the end of Wednesday if they lose and the Spurs defeat the Lakers.

The fourth-place Clippers (34-23) could drop one spot if they fall to the Thunder and fifth-place Memphis defeats Phoenix. Los Angeles has won eight of 10 but failed to earn a third straight victory Monday, falling 94-85 at Memphis.

"We are going back and forth," All-Star forward Blake Griffin said of the Clippers and Grizzlies. "We very likely could (face each other in the playoffs), and we are excited about that."

While securing the fourth seed and home-court advantage in the opening round is important, so is rebounding - something the Clippers weren't very good at to begin their three-game trip.

"We put a lot of pressure on ourselves because we didn't shoot the ball well (40.5 percent) or rebound the ball well (36 to Memphis' 48)," coach Vinny Del Negro said.

The Clippers grabbed 18 fewer rebounds than the Thunder in their last game in Oklahoma City, a 114-91 loss March 21.

Griffin is among the league leaders with 10.9 boards per game, but he had just seven in that contest at Chesapeake Energy Arena. He also finished with a career-low seven points after Thunder center Kendrick Perkins committed a hard foul against him in the first quarter.

Griffin, an Oklahoma City native, did throw down a spectacular one-handed dunk over Perkins in the Clippers' 112-100 home win over the Thunder on Jan. 30.

All-Star point guard Chris Paul went 12 of 16 from the field and scored 26 points with 14 assists in the January matchup, but was held to 13 and 3-of-12 shooting in the March contest. He did have 10 assists and five steals in that game.

Durant leads the Thunder with 68 points and 22 rebounds in those two meetings.

The home team has won six in a row in this series, and Oklahoma City has outscored Los Angeles 112.3-95.7 in its three consecutive home wins over the Clippers. Los Angeles hosts the Thunder on Monday.

Paul's layup lifts Clippers past Thunder, 100-98

By JEFF LATZKE
Posted Apr 12 2012 1:56AM

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) Blake Griffin's last visit to his hometown resulted in one of the most forgettable games of a young career that's already been filled with highlights.

Chris Paul sent him out as a winner this time.

Paul scored 31 points, including the game-winning shot on a layup with 8.8 seconds left, and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 100-98 on Wednesday night to stay in position for home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

"For me to come back and be able to play in front of family and friends is always fun," said Griffin, who was born and raised in Oklahoma City and played college ball at Oklahoma.

"But most importantly we're looking to get wins and this is a tough place to play and I'm proud of the way my teammates played and we dug out a win."

The Clippers needed the win to hang on to fourth place in the Western Conference standings. Fifth-place Memphis, which beat L.A. on Monday night, remains a half-game behind the Clippers after beating Phoenix 104-93 Wednesday night.

Griffin had lost his first three NBA games in his hometown, getting a career-low seven points in a 114-91 blowout loss last month. In that game, the Thunder's Kendrick Perkins set the tone by hitting Griffin in the face on a first-quarter foul that also earned him a technical.

On Wednesday night, Griffin had 16 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists and provided some highlight material, most notably a right-handed slam over Ibaka midway through the third quarter. He flirted with his second career triple-double before failing to register an assist in the fourth quarter.

But that's when Paul, playing on the court where he once starred with the relocated New Orleans Hornets, was at his best.

Paul's right-handed runner during a 15-4 run tied it at 80 before he came out for a brief rest, and Randy Foye's 3-pointer from the right side with 8:35 remaining put L.A. ahead 85-84. It was the first lead for the Clippers since it was 6-5 in the opening 4 minutes.

Paul also had a tiebreaking 3-pointer and a floater along the lane to give L.A. a five-point lead and then the 6-foot point guard restored that edge by tipping in his own miss a few trips later.

After Durant's 3-pointer tied it at 98 with 32 seconds left, Paul drained the shot clock before coming up with the decisive basket - the ball rattling around the rim before falling through.

He got past Thunder defensive specialist Thabo Sefolosha and squeezed the ball onto the rim past the league's leading shot blocker, Serge Ibaka, to put L.A. ahead.

"That's the reason he's the best down the stretch. He takes over games," Griffin said. "For that to be our guy, and he has the ball in his hands a lot, it just works out perfectly."

Paul had 24 points in the second half, including 11 in the final quarter.

"We just got lazy in the second half," said Thunder guard James Harden, who had 17 points off the bench. "We didn't come out with that aggression like we did in the first half to really control him, and he took advantage of it."

Kevin Durant missed a 3-pointer that could have won it, hitting the back rim on a shot over Clippers center DeAndre Jordan from the left wing.

"He was playing off me a little and it got clogged up," Durant said. "I didn't want to risk a turnover, so I shot it."

Durant led Oklahoma City with 22 points and Russell Westbrook scored 20. The West-leading Thunder (42-16) have lost four of their last six games and are one game ahead of second-place San Antonio. The Spurs (40-16) have the same number of losses and would win the tiebreaker against Oklahoma City for the No. 1 seed.

The Thunder also fell two games behind idle Chicago (44-14) for the best record in the NBA.

"You're going to have to win games in the playoffs, no matter who you play. We're not worried about that," Harden said. "We just want to close these remaining games out and then go from there."

Durant was 7-for-21 and Westbrook 3-for-14 as both Oklahoma City All-Stars struggled from the field. The rest of the Thunder roster was 21-for-41, for 51 percent.

"You know, we missed some good shots. I can't complain," coach Scott Brooks said. "There's going to be nights you miss your shots. Kevin's not going to miss that many shots. Russell's not going to miss that many shots."

Los Angeles won for the ninth time in its last 11 games - all without top reserve Mo Williams, who is out with a sprained left big toe. That run followed a stretch when the Clippers lost 12 of 19.

"I'm proud of the way we've bounced back as a team through a lot of adversity and a lot of negative talk," Griffin said. "Everybody's just kind of batted it to the side and won ballgames."

Notes: A portion of the profits from sales of the sneakers Durant debuted during the game will support the N7 Fund, which awards grants to Native American and Aboriginal grassroots sport and fitness programs for youth. Paul wore dark green sneakers as part of the NBA's Green Week. ... Country singer Toby Keith attended the game and sat next to former Oklahoma basketball player Kevin Bookout. ... The teams play again Monday night at Staples Center.

Notebook: Clippers 100, Thunder 98

Posted Thursday April 12, 2012 12:26AM

By Randy Renner, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Chris Paul controlled the second half and his Los Angeles Clippers teammates dominated inside and beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 100-98 inside a sold-out Chesapeake Energy Arena Wednesday night. Paul had only seven points on 3-for-9 shooting in the first half but after the break he had 24 on 8-for-11 shooting including the game-winner, a driving layup that he flipped into the basket with :08.8 left on the clock. Oklahoma City managed just 43 points in the second half and couldn't keep the Clippers out of the painted area where they scored 52 points, 30 more than they had the last time these teams played. Blake Griffin added 16 points for the Clippers while pulling down 12 rebounds. Thunder All-Stars Kevin Durant (7-for-21) and Russell Westbrook (3-for-14) did not have good shooting nights though Westbrook made it to the free throw line 15 times and made 13 of those tries. Durant led the Thunder with 22 points, three of them coming on a long-range bomb that tied the game at 98 with :32.2 to go. Durant then missed a 3-pointer that would have given OKC the lead with :01.9 left. Thanks to those charity tosses Westbrook added 20. OKC sixth man James Harden had 17 on 4-for-8 shooting. Many of the Thunder players were upset after the game and most were already showered, dressed and out of the locker room by the time reporters were allowed in.

QUOTABLE: "Chris (Paul) made plays down the stretch. He's just got that competitive edge about everything. His attitude and his approach rubs off on guys and he was locked in tonight."
-- Clippers head coach Vinny Del Negro

THE STAT: In the fourth quarter Paul scored 11 points on 5-for-6 shooting. Durant was 2-for-9 (five points) and Westbrook was 0-for-3 (two points).

TURNING POINT: The Thunder managed to keep the Clippers at arms-length until the fourth quarter when L.A. tied it at 80 then gradually pulled away thanks to those 11 points from Paul and 16 points in the paint in the final frame. Oklahoma City could score only 18 points, their worst quarter of the game, in the fourth.

QUOTABLE II: "Not giving them buckets around the paint was one of our keys tonight. It was not one of our better games. On defense we were a second or a step slow and we didn't have it on offense. We didn't play good enough to win tonight."
-- Thunder head coach Scott Brooks

HOT: Oklahoma City started the game shooting 7-for-13 (53.8 percent) ... Derek Fisher was 3-for-4 and 2-for-2 on 3-pointers at halftime ... Caron Butler was 3-for-4 at the break.

NOT: The Clippers started the game shooting 4-for-12 (33.3 percent) ... Paul a 1-for-5 in the first quarter ... Westbrook was 2-for-7 at halftime ... Through three quarters Durant (5-for-12), Westbrook (3-for-11) and Harden (2-for-5) were a combined 10-for-28 (35.7 percent).

INSIDE THE ARENA: Country music superstar and Oklahoma native Toby Keith along with St. Louis Rams quarterback and Oklahoma City native Sam Bradford were among the sell-out crowd of 18,203. It is the 44th straight regular season full house and the 53rd consecutive including playoffs. ... Durant wore a new shoe, the NikeN7, to help promote participation in sport by Native Americans.

BAD MOVE: Fisher drove toward the basket in the second quarter from out near the 3-point arc and Clippers backup point guard Eric Bledsoe inexplicably stepped away from Fisher allowing him a clear path to the basket. Fisher took advantage and scored. Bledsoe looked around as if he'd been expecting some help.

NOTABLE: The Clippers are now 12 games over .500, it's just the third time ever they've been more than five games over .500 this late in a season.

UP NEXT: For the Clippers, Thursday @ Minnesota, Saturday vs. Golden State, Monday vs. Oklahoma City. For the Thunder, Friday vs. Sacramento, Saturday @ Minnesota, Monday @ LA Clippers.

• Clippers: Billups, Leslie
• Thunder: Jackson, Maynor

• Clippers: --
• Thunder: --

• Lead Changes: 6
• Times Tied: 4

• Arena: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, OK
• Officials: #55 Bill Kennedy, #7 Kevin Fehr, #12 Violet Palmer
• Attendance: 18203
• Duration: 2:20