5 takeaways from LA Clippers vs OKC match-up

Russell Westbrook #0 of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Blake Griffin #32 of the Los Angeles Clippers walk to center court during a 109-97 Thunder win at Staples Center.

Two of the best teams in the NBA squared off in Los Angles. To my chagrin, the Thunder came out on top. But the Clippers kept it well within reach throughout the game even though they were playing without Chris Paul. Paul was out of action with a bruised right kneecap. His face as he watched the Clippers getting beat was a sight. “Just you wait…”, the Clippers were thinking long term, when they elected to rest Paul for this one. ”We have to look at the big picture and protect Chris as well,” Del Negro said. ”He’s just sore.”

In the small picture, the Clippers lost this one 109-97.

Even though these two teams have the best and the second best record in the league, there isn’t much bad blood between them. Maybe a playoff series in the future will right that. There are a lot of common connections here, Blake Griffin was born and raised in Oklahoma and played his college ball at Oklahoma University. Thunder coach Scoot Brooks was with the Clippers for about a month in January 1999, but he didn’t play for them. Eric Bledsoe was originally drafted by the Thunder and traded to the Clippers on draft day in 2010.

Here are 5 takeaways from this game.

Unstoppable duo

This game was infuriating to watch as a Clipper fan. Just when the Clippers would come within striking distance of ten points, Durant would bury a dagger in them. When Durant, #35, scores more than 35, the Thunder are 10-0 this season. He is the best scorer in basketball hands down. Durant finished with 31 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists. And he has a exceptional running mate in Westbrook.

Those two are averaging a combined 52.5 points per game this season, the only duo to average more than 50 points combined this season. Russell Westbrook finished with 26 points and 6 assists. Westbrook is averaging 8.3 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game this season; all career bests. Westbrook came in averaging 33.8 points over his last four games. He and Durant together make up the most explosive duo in the league.

Try stopping these two when they’re on a roll.

Bad backups

In the first game which Bledsoe and Griffin played vs. the Thunder back in their rookie year, Bledsoe had 17 points and 8 assists as the Clippers beat the Thunder by 15. The Clippers were hoping that he could recreate that magic as he started today while the Clippers were without Paul. It wasn’t to be. Bledsoe finished with 12 points and 4 assists on 5-16 shooting with 2 blocks. Without Paul to take the pressure off them, neither of the Clippers explosive bench guards could do much. Jamal Crawford shot 6-18 for 14 points.

Blake Griffin is a monster

Blake had 25 points 9 rebounds and 4 assists, and that was with 1:44 remaining in the game. In the last minute though, Blake had a couple of unforced turnovers which may have lost the Clippers a long shot at winning. First he committed an offensive foul on a rebound, and on the next possession, he sprinted down court with a head of steam and upon spotting Jamal Crawford streaking, he threw the ball like Crawford was DeAndre. No one else in the arena could have caught such a pass. Regardless, Griffin had a monster game. Griffin finished with 31 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 1 block. And he shot 11-19 from the field and 9-10 from the free throw line. He didn’t contain his man much, as Ibaka added 17 points and 9 rebounds.

You don’t want to get in his way.

Three point shooting

Durant was 5-6. Ibaka of all people was 1-1. Westbrook the gunner was 3-6. Kevin Martin was 3-5, as was Sefolosha. Those are their three point field goal numbers. Talk about luck. Of course skill comes into it, but today the stars were in favour of the Thunder. They shot 55.6 % from three point range. with 15-27 shooting. Their two point field goal % was 52.6 in contrast. That doesn’t happen everyday. Durant came in having made 23 threes in the last nine games, for context. The Clippers were woeful from three-point range, going 25 % with 4-16 shooting. They didn’t shoot well from the field either, 39-84 for 46.4 % shooting.

In the Clippers’ last game, they lost to the Warriors when Golden State connected on 12 of 22 from long range. They need to defend the perimeter if they are to win games.

Not over till over

It seemed that the game was getting away from the Clippers in the third quarter itself. But they kept chipping in, and the Thunder kept streaking ahead with their three pointers. With 10:10 remaining in the fourth, the Clippers’ bench had cut the lead down to 7 on a Grant Hill jumper over Nick Collison. Then Durant came in the game and banked in a three. Hill had the next bucket for the Clippers too. The man is 40-years-old and going up against guys half his age. The arena was buzzing loud but the Thunder silenced it with some lucky threes.

Durant banked one three in and Westbrook’s three bounced high off the front rim and went in. There’s nothing more demoralizing than watching a team make those lucky shots. Regardless, the Clippers kept it close and were within striking distance even in the last two minutes by having the lead cut to single digits. Serge Ibaka fouled out in the last two minutes after setting two bad picks and gave the Clippers some hope. But Griffin’s turnovers pushed the game out of reach.

The Thunder improved to 33-9 and the Clippers dropped to 32-11. This may be a preview of the Western Conference Finals. And the Clippers will have Chris Paul come playoff time.

Here are the Clippers’ highlights of this game-