The Oklahoma City Thunder and the Los Angeles Clippers are still in an extremely tight race for the western conference’s no. 2 seed. On Wednesday, in one of the biggest games of the remaining NBA season, the Thunder visit the Clippers in what could easily be a preview of their likely Western Conference semifinal match up.
Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Los Angeles Clippers Preview
When: 10:30 PM ET, Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Where: Staples Center, Los Angeles
Betting on the Oklahoma City Thunder
With Kevin Durant continuing to spew fire on offense, the Thunder broke San Antonio’s record-setting winning streak last week for their third straight victory, 106-94. In that game, Durant put up 28 points while Russell Westbrook added 27 more.
Unfortunately, the good times stopped rolling for Oklahoma City when they lost two straight games on the road to the Rockets and Suns, respectively. The latest pair of setbacks held the Thunder to 55-21 SU in the standings – just a game ahead of the Clippers.
Despite the loss to the Suns, Durant had a reason to celebrate as he surpassed Michael Jordan’s 40 straight games of 25 points or more when he tallied his 41st in a row with a 38-point night in the Thunder’s 115-122 loss at the desert. Durant is now averaging an outrageous 34.5 PPG over the last 10 contests.
The Thunder are behind in the season series against the Clip, 1-2 SU, but have won two of their last three games against Los Angeles at Staples Center.
Betting on the Los Angeles Clippers
Fuelled by the 1-2 punch of Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, the Clippers are making a late push to steal the no. 2 seed of Oklahoma City in the western conference. The Clippers are 5-1 SU in their last six games and are just a game behind of the Thunder with a record of 55-21 SU. On Wednesday, they could slip by the Thunder.
The duo of Paul and Griffin made life hard for the Lakers on Sunday when the two combined for 46 points in a 120-97 beatdown of their fellow Staples Center tenants. Paul is the team’s top assist man with 10.8 APG (no. 1 in the NBA), while Griffin is the Clippers’ best scorer, managing 24.0 PPG
Although the Clippers were torched for 42 points by Kevin Durant in their last meeting, they came away with a 125-117 win nonetheless as they found the answer to the MVP candidate in Jamal Crawford, who fired 36 points on 13-20 from the field, including 5-8 from beyond the arc.
The Clippers have averaged 109.4 PPG in their last 10 games and gave up 104.1 PPG over the same span. They are 5-1 over in their last six games.
Prediction
In a battle of two of the league’s best scoring teams, the Clippers will outlast Oklahoma City in a barnburner simply because they have more firepower in their arsenal than the Thunder.
