Oklahoma City Thunder at Los Angeles Clippers
Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
Saturday, April 2, 2011, 10:30 pm Eastern, TV: NBA TV
Opening Line: Thunder -4
Current Line: Thunder -5
Opening Total: 206 1/2
Current Total: 205 1/2
Money Line: OKC -220 / LAC +180
Two of the NBA’s brightest young superstars lead their teams against each other tonight, as Kevin Durant leads the Thunder into L.A. to take on Blake Griffin and the Clippers. Oklahoma City is all but locked into the fourth seed in the West and will most likely take on the Nuggets in the first round. The Thunder are 50-25 on the season. There is an outside chance they could catch Dallas for the third seed but they are 3 games behind with only 7 to play. Friday night, Oklahoma City lost at Portland 98-91. Despite all the buzz Blake Griffin (the almost certain Rookie of the Year) has brought to the Clippers, people forget this team is still the third worst team in the West with a 29-47 record. Only Sacramento and Minnesota have worse records than the Clippers. The Clippers lost Friday night at Phoenix 111-98.
Oklahoma City went 14-2 straight up in March to extend their lead in the Northwest division to 5 games over Denver. The Thunder are 18-5 straight up this year after a loss and 28-5 SU since November 15 against teams under .500. The series is tied this year between the Thunder and Clippers with each team winning on its own home court. The Clippers upset the Thunder at Staples November 3 107-92, but the Thunder won 111-88 in OKC February 22. The Clips have won and covered 5 of the last 9 meetings between the teams, and the over is 5-4 in those games. The Thunder are 90-71 ATS in all games the last 2 seasons, including 47-34 in road games. The Clippers are 69-86 ATS in all games the last 2 seasons, including 25-40 after allowing 105 points or more the previous game, and 37-51 against teams scoring 99 points or more a game in the same span.
The Thunder are pretty healthy right now as they tune-up for the playoffs. Though he is unquestionably one of the elite players in the league, forward Kevin Durant is not really mentioned in the MVP conversation with LeBron James and Derrick Rose for some reason. Durant is the leading scorer for the Thunder with 27.8 points and also averages 6.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists a game. Point Guard Russell Westbrook averages 22 points a game. He leads the team in assists with 8.3 and steals with 1.8 a game. James Harden averages 12.1 points a game. Forward Serge Ibaka leads the team in rebounds with 7.6 and blocks with 2.4 a game. The Thunder are outscoring opponents 105-101 on the season. Oklahoma City is shooting 46.3% from the field and 34.9% from 3-point range. Thunder opponents are shooting 45.9% from the field. The Thunder make 82.3% of their free throws. OKC averages 42.5 rebounds a game and has a rebounding margin of +1.9. The Thunder average 20.4 assists and 14 turnovers a game. They force 14 turnovers a game on defense. The Thunder average 7.9 steals and 5.9 blocks a game.
Clippers center Chris Kaman is questionable tonight with an illness. Five Clippers average double figure scoring led by Eric Gordon with 23 points a game. Gordon also leads the team in steals with 1.2 a game Griffin is averaging 22.4 points and leads the team in rebounds with 12.1 a game. Mo Williams averages 16.6 points a game and leads the team in assists with 5.8 a game after being acquired in a mid-season trade with the Cavaliers. Kaman averages 12.4 points a game. Randy Foye averages 10.1 points a game. DeAndre Jordan leads the team in blocks with 1.8 a game. The Clippers are being outscored on the season 102-99. The Clippers are shooting 45.7% from the field and 33.8% from 3-point range. Clipper opponents are shooting 45.7% from the field as well. L.A. makes 70.9% of their free throws. The Clips average 42.1 rebounds a game and have a rebounding margin of +2. The Clippers average 22.1 assists and 16.3 turnovers a game. They force 13.5 turnovers a game on defense. The Clippers average 6.9 steals and 4.9 blocks a game.
The key to beating Oklahoma City is limiting the open looks they get. Oklahoma City is 34-6 when it shoots 47 percent or more from the field and 16-19 otherwise. The Thunder are also 27-3 when Durant hits more than half his shots. In order to do that, the Clippers must play better defense than they did last night in Phoenix. Despite the fact that Steve Nash missed that game with the flu, the Suns still shot 52% from the field in the rout. Oklahoma City is remarkably resilient after a loss. The Thunder have not lost more than 3 games in a row all season. That is the sign of a good team that could make a deep run in the playoffs despite their youth.
Our pro basketball handicappers are red hot this season. Don’t miss out on any more winners for the rest of the regular season and the playoffs.
