Can Russell Westbrook be stopped? Over the last few Oklahoma City Thunder (35-28) games, the answer has been a resounding no. Don’t expect the Los Angeles Clippers (41-23) to take it easy on Westbrook, though, this coming Wednesday.
The Clippers, who are coming off a win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, are looking to improve on their record to clinch home-court advantage—at least in the first round of the playoffs—and a win over OKC will be a step closer to getting it. Home-court advantage, however, is the least of the Thunder’s worries, as they are fighting to keep their hold of the final playoff spot in the tough Western Conference.
Excited for the Big Dance? Yeah, we are too. But before the madness, take a look at our preview and predictions for the ACC and SEC tournaments.
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Los Angeles Clippers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder Preview
Where: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City
When: Wednesday, March 11, 2015, 8:00 PM ET
Line: Los Angeles Clippers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder — view all NBA lines
Betting on the Los Angeles Clippers
With key pieces in their starting lineup and bench missing, the Clippers leaned on the heroics of J.J. Redick and DeAndre Jordan, who towed the team to an 89-76 victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves Monday night. After a one-day rest, the Clips will return to the floor to face rival Oklahoma City on Wednesday.
[sc:NBA240banner ]Against the T’wolves, Redick scored 26 points on 10-of-19 shooting to compensate for the absence of the pair of Blake Griffin (elbow) and Jamal Crawford (calf). Redick’s offensive outburst helped cover up Chris Paul’s atrocious shooting night. Paul went 1-of-6 from the field and scored just two points, but recorded 15 assists in 30 minutes of action.
Hopefully for Paul, he’ll recover his shooting touch against Oklahoma City. In two meetings with the Thunder thus far this season, Paul has averaged 20.0 points and 10.0 assists per game. He scored 18 points and dished out 13 assists, albeit in a 131-108 blowout Clips loss to OKC on February 8.
Redick , who has averaged 19.0 points over the last seven Clippers outings, may have another big night against the Thunder, particularly from beyond the arc. Redick has 15 threes in the past five Clippers games, and he’ll be up against a Thunder defense that allows opponents 24.5 three-point attempts per game. As a team, the Clippers are fifth in the league in threes with 9.7 made triples per game.
Jordan, who had 20 points and 17 rebounds in the Minnesota game, will be in for a tough rebounding battle against the Thunder, who lead in the league with 47.6 boards per game. He’ll have to get help from Spencer Hawes, who’s been Griffin’s primary replacement in the starting lineup. During Griffin’s 12-game (and counting) absence, Hawes has averaged 7.7 points and 4.3 rebounds per game.
Los Angeles is 3-1 ATS in its last four road games.
The mask isn’t slowing down Russell Westbrook. If anything, it only highlights how unstoppable the All-Star point guard is at this point of the season. He proved that again on Sunday, when he scored 30 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, and dished out 17 assists to notch his seventh triple-double of the season in the Thunder’s 108-104 win over the Toronto Raptors.
With Durant still out, expect Westbrook to carry most of the burden in the upcoming matchup with the Clippers. In the previous meeting with the Clips, Durant led the Thunder with 29 points, while sidekick Westbrook added 19 markers.
Westbrook, however, still needs some semblance of support from the likes of Kyle Singler and Andre Roberson, who’ve both been disappointing of late. The duo has combined for a pathetic average of 7.3 points per game over the last four Thunder games.
Singler’s frustrating performance may cue a change in the starting rotation with either Anthony Morrow (9.31 PPG this season) or Dion Waiters (11.1 PPG this season) being inserted in his place in the starting lineup to match up better with the Clippers’ backcourt that puts up 51 points per game.
The frontcourt situation, meanwhile, is a lot better with Serge Ibaka and Enes Kanter continuing to play solidly together. The two have combined for 31.9 points and 17.0 rebounds per game in the last eight OKC games.
OKC is 6-1 ATS in its last seven games against the Clippers.
