Clippers fall on Westbrook’s historic night
- Updated: March 10, 2016
The Clippers headed to OKC fresh off a strong win in Dallas with the memories of last week’s Thunder capitulation still very fresh in everyone’s minds however there would be no fourth quarter heroics this time around as OKC snapped a 3-game home losing streak to chalk up a 120-108 victory.
When Doc Rivers is forced to call a timeout after 63 seconds of play, generally that means things haven’t started so well. Two blown assignments on OKC offensive possessions meant they jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead. The lead would eventually extend to 22-11 as the Clippers defense failed to communicate as the Thunder got easy buckets and Russell Westbrook was dropping dimes left, right and centre.
The Clippers would respond with a 6-0 run thanks to their all-conquering point guard Chris Paul however as the Thunder were in the bonus, they went to the Hack-A-Jordan strategy which paid off in a big way as Jordan went 2-9 at the line.
Somehow, inexcusably, the Clippers failed to get back on defense during this time as the Thunder lead jumped out again as Westbrook had eight first quarter assists to propel the Thunder to a 39-29 lead after 12 minutes despite the Clippers shooting 63% from the field (this gives you an indication of how bad the defense was).
The Clippers defensive rotation and help defense failed to improve to start the second quarter as the Thunder bench helped themselves to baskets inside the paint.
As the starters returned early, the defense finally picked up as they were able to force turnovers and get buckets in transition as Jamal Crawford had 14 points on 5-7 shooting while Chris Paul finished the half with nine points, nine assists and four steals. While Paul Pierce continued to miss wide open looks from deep which could’ve given the Clippers a lead on numerous occasions, Jeff Green picked up his slack offensively with some educated cutting to hit some timely buckets at the end of the half to cut the Clippers deficit to two as they trailed 64-62 going into the locker room.
The point guard duel was especially impressive in the opening half as Westbrook saw and raised Paul’s statline with 17 points and 12 assists of his own despite committing four turnovers. Kevin Durant had 11 points and seven rebounds with four turnovers of his own.
Both teams traded buckets to open the third quarter however as the scores were locked at 75, the Thunder went on a 10-0 run as the Clippers missed eight straight shots including open threes from Paul and Redick.
Wesley Johnson finally stopped the run with a midrange jump shot and Chris Paul tried to spark the Clippers with this:
https://vine.co/v/iHiIBO0qEBw
as he and Cole Aldrich combined for a pair of nice plays in the paint however they couldn’t eat into the deficit as they trailed by 10 after 36 minutes of play.
Unfortunately for the Clippers, they would never eat into that lead again as first the Thunder bench then the starters re-entered to ensure there would be no repeat of their last weeks match up.
Russell Westbrook would finish the game with 25 points, 20 assists and 11 rebounds as he became the first player since Magic Johnson in 1988 (the same year in which Westbrook was born) to have at least 20-20-10 in a game. He and Durant would combine for 55 points, 27 assists and 23 rebounds as the pair dismantled the Clippers in the second half.
The Clippers lost the rebound battle by 23 which was a story in itself as the loss seemingly marks the end of the Clippers chase for third seed as the Thunder will hold the tiebreaker regardless of what happens in their final match up.
The Clippers had handy contributions across the board as Green finished with 23 points, Redick had 22 while Paul had 16 assists and 12 points and five steals, albeit on 5/15 shooting.
The Clippers now head back home to take on Carmelo Anthony and the New York Knicks on Friday night.
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