NBA Basketball Matchup: Clippers vs Thunder
The Los Angeles Clippers will head to Oklahoma City aiming to put some distance between them and the rest of a tightly bunched group of Western Conference contenders, when they take on the West’s top dog, the Thunder on Wednesday night.
Date/Time: 8:00 PM ET, Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Venue: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Broadcast: FS Prime Ticket (Los Angeles), FS Oklahoma
Spread: Thunder -8
Over/Under: 196
Los Angeles (34-23) could drop one spot if they lose to Oklahoma City and fifth-place Memphis, who they fell to on Monday 94-85, beats the Suns. So a win here is critical.
The loss was just the Clippers second in their last 10 though, as they seem to be a team on a seesaw, failing to string more together more than two straight victories all season long.
A win over the Thunder could also help them overtake the Lakers for top spot in the Pacific Division, as they trail their inner city rival by just 1 1/2 games.
Forward Blake Griffin will be a big part of the team’s success in this one, but he will need to have a better performance than his last outing where pulled down just six rebounds in the loss to Grizzlies for his second-lowest output of the campaign.
Griffin will return to his hometown of Oklahoma City after struggling in his visit earlier this season, scoring a season-low seven points while averaging only 7.0 rebounds in two games against the Thunder this season, including a 114-91 loss in OKC the last time the two teams met. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Meanwhile, the Thunder (42-15) will aim to maintain their one-game lead over the San Antonio Spurs after stringing together back-to-back victoriesm, including Monday’s 109-89 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.
Guard Russell Westbrook had 26 points while forward Serge Ibaka Sefolosha scored 14 points, but did his real damage on the defensive end, recording a career-high seven steals and five blocked shots.
The Thunder will also aim to continue their dominance of Los Angeles at the Chesapeake Energy Arena where they have won the last three home meetings with the Clippers.
If Los Angeles wants to win this one, they will need to get after it on the boards while finding away to slow down Thunder forward Kevin Durant who is averaging 34.0 points in two games against Los Angeles this season
Free Pick: Oklahoma City –Look for Durant to raise his 16-game career clip against the Clippers to 27.8 as the Thunder walk away unscathed from this one.
