Thunder-Clippers Preview

By JORDAN GARRETSON
Posted Jan 21 2013 11:46PM

The Oklahoma City Thunder and Los Angeles Clippers own the NBA's top two records, yet both are coming off losses.

One of them is about to have the makings of a losing streak.

Oklahoma City continues its season-high six-game road trip Tuesday night at Staples Center where the Clippers will try to avoid their second set of back-to-back losses this month.

The Thunder are a league-best 32-9 but its six-game win streak was snapped with a 121-118 overtime loss at Denver on Sunday. Kevin Durant scored 37, setting a personal best with four straight contests of 30 or more points, while Russell Westbrook had 36.

The Thunder, who trailed by 11 with three minutes left in regulation before coming back to force overtime, had been 20-5 when both scored at least 20.

Westbrook has been nearly as spectacular as Durant of late, averaging 33.8 points over his last four games. He had seven turnovers against the Nuggets after having only five in his previous three games, but still flirted with a triple-double, adding nine assists and eight rebounds. He was also crucial in forcing overtime, scoring seven points over the final three minutes of regulation, including the game-tying 3-pointer with 23 seconds left.

The point guard's 8.3 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game are all career-bests.

"He plays, he competes, he does everything that we ask," said coach Scott Brooks, who was coaching a day after his mother, Lee, died on Saturday. "He improves every year. He plays defense at a high level. He's a two-way player and I don't know if there's a better one in the league that can do both of them."

The Clippers (32-10) had a four-game winning streak stopped in a 106-99 loss at Golden State on Monday. Chris Paul - in his second game back after missing three with a knee injury - finished with a season-low four points on 1-of-7 shooting, though he also recorded nine assists. Coach Vinny Del Negro said Paul's status would be reevaluated for Tuesday's game.

"You could see he doesn't have that extra burst like he usually has," Del Negro said. "It's nice to have him out there because he settles everything down. It's just that he can't play at the level he's used to with the injury."

Jamal Crawford bounced back from a seven-point, 3-of-13 shooting performance in the previous game with 24 points, including a season-best six 3-pointers.

Los Angeles held a seven-point lead with 11 minutes left, but missed all four free throws in the fourth quarter. The Clippers also allowed Stephen Curry to go 4 of 4 from 3-point range in the final 12 minutes.

After Golden State connected on 12 of 22 from long range, the Clippers will need to tighten up defensively against the Thunder, who rank among the league leaders in 3-point percentage (38.8). They went 11 of 23 from beyond the arc in a 117-111 victory on Nov. 21 in the teams' first meeting this season.

Paul struggled in that loss, scoring nine on 2-of-14 shooting, though Blake Griffin had 23 points. Durant scored 35 in that game but missed 19 of 26 shots.

The Clippers have won four in a row at home against the Thunder.

Thunder beat Clippers 109-97 to extend West lead

By BETH HARRIS
Posted Jan 23 2013 2:27AM

LOS ANGELES (AP) Coming off a loss two nights earlier in Denver, the Oklahoma City Thunder were more interested in bouncing back with a win than making any statements against the Clippers.

Kevin Durant scored 32 points, Russell Westbrook added 26 and the Thunder won 109-97 on Tuesday night in a matchup of teams with the two best records in the NBA.

"We've got 82 games and we want to play well every night," Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. "We don't put more emphasis on any one game. We know the Clippers are one of the best teams, and with Chris Paul in or out, they've still got a great team."

Serge Ibaka added 17 points before fouling out late while helping the Thunder improve to a league-best 33-9 and expand their lead in the Western Conference standings to one game over the Clippers, who were without All-Star Paul. They fell to 32-11.

"They were missing Chris Paul, which is a huge piece, but they were still good in his absence," Durant said. "We wanted to come in here and get a good road win."

Blake Griffin had 31 points and 11 rebounds, and Jamal Crawford added 14 points off the bench. Eric Bledsoe scored 12 points starting in place of Paul, who missed his fourth game because of a bruised right kneecap. He missed three road wins last week, then played the next two games but it was obvious Paul wasn't himself so he was held out Tuesday.

After the game, coach Vinny Del Negro said, "Chris is going to be out. Hopefully, we get him back soon. It's a day-to-day thing."

The Clippers play 10 of their next 11 on the road.

"Chris is the orchestrator. He'll organize everything out there," Crawford said. "There's no way to replace him, but collectively we'll get it together."

The Clippers had won four straight at home against the Thunder, and they led much of the first quarter before giving up the lead for good early in the second.

"They're a good team at home, and right now we're two of the best teams in the NBA," Westbrook said. "It was a big win for us. We made some big shots and guys made the right plays."

Los Angeles made a run to start the fourth, with Grant Hill and Crawford combining to score seven in a row and close to 82-75. That was as close as the Clippers came in losing their second straight.

"They just hit shots down the stretch," Griffin said. "We tried to fight back, but we put ourselves in too big of a hole. They have the best record in the NBA for a reason. Every game for us we know we're going to get a team's best. We're not going to hang our heads."

Durant keyed a 3-point barrage over the next nearly 4 minutes, making three of them himself while Westbrook added one and Ibaka had another to extend the Thunder's lead to 99-82 - their largest of the game. Three of those 3s came after the Thunder grabbed offensive rebounds.

"I couldn't find a shot early on because they were playing some great defense. They were putting multiple guys on me when I was driving and on pick-and-rolls, so I just tried to take what the defense was giving me and be aggressive," Durant said.

"My shots were falling and my teammates were getting offensive rebounds and kicking it out for 3s. We were getting guys open for 3s. When we're driving and kicking, we're pretty good."

Durant scored on a driving dunk to make it 101-85, then punctuated it by punching his right arm in the air.

The Clippers cut their deficit to 105-97. After Westbrook missed, Griffin raced down court and proceeded to throw the ball into the seats. He bent over with his head in his hands.

Having beaten the Clippers in overtime in November, the Thunder won the season series, with one game remaining on Jan. 22.

"We know we can beat them if we eliminate some of the offensive rebounds and 3-pointers," Matt Barnes said. "We fear nobody."

Oklahoma City pulled away to a 77-61 lead in the third on a 3-pointer by Thabo Sefolosha and a fast break dunk by Westbrook. The Clippers cut it to nine on seven straight points, including four by Crawford, before the Thunder scored the last five points to lead 82-68 going into the fourth.

The Thunder controlled the second, taking their first lead of the game on Kevin Martin's 3-pointer 45 seconds in. That launched a 13-2 run that gave the Thunder a nine-point lead, their largest to that point. Griffin scored the Clippers' final six points to help them close to 49-45 at halftime.

The Clippers led by eight before the Thunder closed the first quarter on an 8-0 run to tie the game at 22-all.

NOTES: It was Paul's bobblehead night. ... Clippers F Caron Butler swatted away a shot in the second quarter and the ball hit referee Derek Richardson in the head, knocking him backward to the court. He wasn't hurt. ... The Thunder improved to 2-1 on their season-high six-game trip. ... The Clippers agreed to a 10-year extension of their lease at Staples Center, where they are one of the arena's original tenants. The extension takes effect at the end of this season, and will keep them in the arena through June 2024.

Notebook: Thunder 109, Clippers 97

Dan Arritt, for NBA.com
Posted Wed Jan 23, 2013 1:46 AM - Updated Wed Jan 23, 2013 1:46 AM

THE FACTS: Not even Chris Paul could have slowed the second-half onslaught by Kevin Durant and the Thunder. Durant scored 24 of his 32 points in the second half Tuesday night, hitting a big basket every time it seemed the Clippers were beginning a comeback. His efforts helped lift Oklahoma City to a 109-97 victory at Staples Center, clinching the season series between the league's two best teams coming into the day.

THE STAT: The Thunder shot 15-for-27 from 3-point range, the most makes since they moved to Oklahoma City in 2008. They were 11-for-23 from long range in their overtime win earlier this season against L.A. Durant was 5-for-6 from beyond the arc Tuesday, and Russell Westbrook, Thabo Sefolosha and Kevin Martin combined to shoot 9-for-16.

QUOTABLE: "You can't go into a game expecting that, or hoping for that."
-- Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks on his team's 3-point shooting.

TURNING POINT: The Thunder held a four-point lead coming out of halftime and immediately stretched it to seven on a 3-pointer by Westbrook. Clippers center DeAndre Jordan made one of two free throws on back-to-back possessions, but Durant hit a 3-pointer after the Jordan's first trip to the line and an 11-footer after the second, pushing the lead to double digits. By the time the quarter ended, the Thunder had increased their advantage to 82-68 by shooting 12-for-16 in the quarter, including 6-for-7 from 3-point range. The Clippers started the fourth quarter with a 7-0 run, but Durant silenced that outburst with another long 3-pointer.

HOT: Buried under the avalanche of 3-pointers by the Thunder was an impressive performance by Clippers forward Blake Griffin. He led the team in points (31), rebounds (11) and assists (five) and tied Jamal Crawford for the most steals (two). Unfortunately, big games from Griffin haven't translated into consistent wins. When he has scored at least 30 points in his career, the Clippers are 9-12.

NOT: Paul missed the game with a bruised right kneecap, the same injury that forced him to sit out three games last week. It was another opportunity for Eric Bledsoe to show what he can do as a starter, a role many think he could play for a number of NBA teams. But the fourth-year player shot 5-for-16 from the floor and scored 12 points. Even worse, he produced only four assists, hardly picking up the slack for Paul. As for the Thunder, center Kendrick Perkins didn't get a chance to show much as he was constantly in foul trouble. He picked up his third late in the first half and was whistled for No. 4 with 10:36 left in the third quarter. Perkins ended up playing just seven minutes, going scoreless with one rebound.

GOOD MOVE: Outside of Martin, the Thunder received no help from their bench in their overtime loss Sunday in Denver. Martin scored 18 points in the game, but no other reserve registered a point. Oklahoma City made up for that in the first half against the Clippers, getting 21 points from their bench and outplaying L.A.'s bench unit, which has been one of the best in the NBA this season. Martin contributed 13 points against the Clippers, but it was the eight first-half points from Nick Collison that did just as much damage.

BAD MOVE: Griffin had one of his best games of the season, but he might have made his worst pass. With the Clippers beginning to fade late in the third quarter, Griffin stole a pass from Westbrook and set out on a fast break. The Thunder also had numbers, however, and Griffin tried a behind-the-back pass from the top of the key anyway. The ball didn't get near his intended target and Sefolosha easily stole it back. That led to a transition basket for Oklahoma City, stretching its lead to 16.

QUOTABLE II: "I didn't think we had a very efficient game on the defensive end and I think we were stagnant on the offensive end. We didn't have our floor general out there, but that's no excuse."
-- Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro

NOTABLE: Westbrook finished with 26 points, ending his career-best streak of 30-point games at four. ... The Thunder had lost four straight games to the Clippers at Staples Center. ... Ten of L.A.'s next 11 games are away from Staples Center.

UP NEXT: For the Clippers, Thursday @ Phoenix, Saturday @ Portland, Sunday vs. Portland. For the Thunder, Wednesday @ Golden State, Friday @ Sacramento, Sunday @ L.A. Lakers.

• Thunder: Lamb, Orton
• Clippers: Billups, Thompkins

• Thunder: --
• Clippers: Odom

• Lead Changes: 1
• Times Tied: 1

• Arena: Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
• Officials: #9 Derrick Stafford, #63 Derek Richardson, #40 Leon Wood
• Attendance: 19451
• Duration: 2:17