The Los Angeles Clippers moved to within 4.5 games of the Oklahoma City Thunder for third place in the Western Conference with a resounding 20-point win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday. The resilient Clippers will look to slice that deficit even further when they lock horns with the aforementioned Thunder in a mouth-watering showdown at Chesapeake Energy Arena tonight.
Who will emerge victorious in this pivotal clash? Read on below for an in-depth breakdown of this critical matchup and while you’re at it, you can check out our previews of Brooklyn vs. Cleveland and Chicago vs. Houston.
The Los Angeles Clippers stretched their unbeaten run to four games with an emphatic 99-79 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday. Five players scored in double-figures for the Clips who never trailed the entire game and led by as many as 33 early in the fourth quarter.
Starring for the Clippers in this critical road win was Chris Paul. He scored 20 points and dished out 16 assists to record his 35th double-double this season. He has been incredible for the injury-plagued Clippers this campaign, averaging 19.8 points, 9.9 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game this season. Paul is once again expected to play a crucial role tonight against the Thunder as he is averaging 21.7 points, 13.0 assists and 4.0 rebounds in three meetings with Oklahoma City this season.
Apart from Paul, the Clippers will also need DeAndre Jordan and J.J. Redick to continue their stellar play tonight. They combined for 28 points on 11-of-22 shooting from the field in the win against the Wolves. Jordan and Redick are averaging a combined 29.4 points per game for the Clippers this season as they have stepped up their play in the absence of the injured Blake Griffin.
The Clippers are 4-6 SU and ATS in their last 10 road games.
The Oklahoma City Thunder had their seven-game unbeaten run snapped on Tuesday with a heart-breaking 88-82 loss to the Detroit Pistons. The Thunder had no answer for Marcus Morris who scored a game-high 24 points and grabbed seven rebounds. It was a disappointing defeat for the Thunder who were missing the services of stars Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka in this ballgame.
The Thunder will look to return to winning ways tonight when they face the streaking Los Angeles Clippers. For Oklahoma City to pull off the victory tonight, it needs to get a much improved performance from Russell Westbrook. The two-time All-Star MVP struggled mightily on the offensive end on Tuesday, scoring 24 points on a woeful 8-of-28 shooting against the Pistons. Westbrook also committed three turnovers against Detroit in this contest.
It won’t get any easier for Westbrook against a Clipper defense that’s allowing just 88.3 points over their last four games. That won’t faze Westbrook, though, who is averaging 27.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 12.7 assists in three games against the Clippers this season. Westbrook has been tremendous for the Thunder this campaign, averaging 23.7 points, 10.4 assists, 7.7 rebounds and a team-high 2.05 steals per game this season.
The Thunder are 6-4 SU and 5-5 ATS in their last 10 home games against the Clippers.
