Oklahoma City Thunder

vs

Los Angeles Clippers

Preview

The History

It was only four days ago that the Clippers and Thunder faced off at the Clippers place. The Thunder got the win in an ugly game, Westbrook went 1-11 and the rest of the Thunder just generally looked out of sync. The Thunder are coming off an impressive win over the Spurs on the front end of the back to back while the Clippers are coming off another loss this time at Toronto. Both times so far the Thunder have been playing the second game of a back to back while the Clippers will have had the previous night off.  Eric Gordon and Blake Griffin are both expected to be out for this game.

The Matchups

Baron Davis v Russell Westbrook

Westbrook had one of his worst games of the season against the Clippers. He was held out of the game late in favor of Kevin Ollie after he came to side due to an injury. Coming off last night's performance down in San Antonio expectations will be high for Westbrook in tonight's game. Baron Davis had a good night last time these two teams met. He took a season high 8 three pointers sinking 3 of them had a season high 7 rebounds and a season low 0 turnovers. If Westbrook plays like he did last night huge edge to the Thunder, if he plays like he did the first time he played the Clippers huge edge Clippers. He doesn't have to play as well as he did last night to beat the Clippers but it sure would be nice.

Edge

Rasual Butler v Thabo Sefolosha

One of the most effective defensive performances of the young season was largely invisible last night. Thabo Sefolosha pretty much erased Richard Jefferson from the game last night. When crunch time came Brooks made the adjustment to put Thabo on Parker and I believe that was one of the keys in a Thunder win. Last game Butler went 2-10 including 2-8 from three in large part due to the defense of Thabo expect that again tonight.

Edge  

Al Thorton v Kevin Durant

Kevin Durant posted his third double double of the season against the Clippers. He shot .600 from the field and had 10 rebounds to lead the Thunder with 30 points. Al Thorton had 15 points and 9 rebounds, a solid night unless you're being compared to Kevin Durant. The area Thorton really impacted the Thunder is on defense where he had 3 blocks. This Clippers team all like to get up and get blocks and Thorton is no different. KD also had the clutch shots to finish the Clippers off in the previous matchup.

Edge  

Marcus Camby v Jeff Green

Camby had a very efficient 3-4 shooting night against the Thunder. He also managed to pull down 8 rebounds and 2 blocks. Green struggled going 5-13 including 2-6 from three and got 5 rebounds but Green is still making an impact in the area that doesn't really show up in the boxscore, defensively Green was solid guarding just about everyone on the floor.

Edge Push

Chris Kaman v Nenad Krstic

I expected to see a lot of Etan Thomas against the Clippers last game, and boy was I wrong. It was Krstic's defense late that helped force the bad pass by Kaman that sealed the game. Kaman is a beast and he will get his points but the Thunder did an excellent job of turning him into a volume shooter. Kaman was 9-26 and grabbed 11 rebounds. Krstic has struggled in the first half of the past couple of games but seems to turn it on in the second half, and this game was no different on a night the Thunder struggled to score points Krstic provided a nice boost to start the second half and get the Thunder going. The key to this game is the same as the first, defend Kaman down low and you give yourself a chance to win.

Edge

Bench v Bench

The Clippers bench was largely ineffective against the Thunder the previous game. Craig Smith posted 6 points and Telfair another 5. Ricky Davis had a line full of zeros as did Mardy Collins. DeAndre Jordon took a pair of free throws and missed both.

Ibaka the man, the myth, the legend. Like all Thunder fans I have an irrational, unreasonable man crush on Serge Ibaka. 16 minutes 2-4 shooting, 3 rebounds, and a block before he fouled out. Now some of those fouls are just a result of a lack of experience at the NBA level. The thing I like most is after each foul he looks around and finds someone, usually Nick Collison, to tell him what he did wrong and how to fix it. This game Harden impressed with his passing more than anything else he had 8 assists which helped to pick up some of the slack from Westbrooks injury and poor play. Etan Thomas only got 6 minutes which was the biggest surprise given the lineup the Clippers play. 

Edge  

The Prediction

Well my last prediction for a Clippers/Thunder game was 102-100 Thunder. The final score, 83-79 although I attribute most of the lack of scoring to the sloppy play of both teams. So at home against a team with a good low post game, which should mean consistant scoring, I am going with 90-82 Thunder. Kaman will play better but so will Westbrook, Green, and Durant. He did miss 3 free throws so there is always something to improve.

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