NBA Basketball Matchup: Clippers vs Thunder
The Los Angeles Cippers head into their Wednesday night showdown with Oklahoma CIty playing pretty good basketball (winning 3 of 4 going into Tuesday night).
Los Angeles Clippers (26-18) vs Oklahoma City Thunder (34-11)
Wednesday March 21
Chesapeake Energy Arena – Oklahoma CIty, OK
8:00
Moneyline: No money line currently listed
Spread: Oklahoma City -8
O/U: 198
Los Angeles
They will be looking to reprise the success they had against OKC in January when they won by 12 despite 30 point efforts by both Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant.
Winning again, this time on the road, should be a little more challenging.
At home, the Clippers got a total team performance with 6 players scoring 11 or more points in the victory. This was one of their last games with guard Chauncey Billups in the lineup and they have not been playing as well without him and his leadership.
Randy Foye is alright as a scoring alternative in his place but he does not make the smart plays or perform in the clutch the way that Billups does. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Oklahoma City
The Oklahoma City Thunder have built themselves a nice cushion atop the Western Conference standings.
They are hosting the Clippers, a potential playoff opponent, and are looking for some revenge for past performance. The Thunder are one of a handful of teams averaging more than 100 points per game. The Clippers are too so this should be an entertaining game with a nice flow.
The last time these two faced off Durant and Westbrook were special but nobody else stepped up.
Usually guard James Harden, a.k.a. The Beard, is a reliable source of scoring.
He actually led the Thunder in minutes that night but shot a brutal 2 for 10. That was one of just three times all season long he has scored less than 10 points.
Hopefully he has a long memory and comes out a little extra hungry.
Spread Pick: Oklahoma City -8
O/U Pick: Over
Score Prediction: Oklahoma City 109 – Los Angeles 99
