Oklahoma City Thunder vs Los Angeles Clippers: Preview, TV Schedule & Where to Watch
The Oklahoma City Thunder are looking for their eighth win in nine games when they visit the Staples Center and the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night. The Clippers are in search for their first win against the top three teams in the West and will be ready for their first matchup of the season against the Thunder.
Los Angeles lost twice to the league-leading Golden State Warriors in November and were defeated by the San Antonio Spurs on Friday. The team also feel that they are not as good as the Warriors and Spurs, and looks at the game against Oklahoma City, who are at the third spot, as a test.
"We're not as good as San Antonio and Golden State. Obviously, Monday will be a test, but we're not there. We know that." J.J. Redick told NBA.com.
The Clippers appeared to be tired on Saturday when they lost against the Houston Rockets last Saturday in their second game of a back-to-back. "I just thought we were flat, lacked energy, but we've been on a helluva trip," Clippers coach Doc Rivers said on their 107-97 loss against the Rockets.
Chris Paul had an off night, shooting from the field but managed to put up 12 points, 10 assists and seven steals. Redick added four 3-point shots for 19 points while Blake Griffin led the Clippers in scoring 22 points to go with eight rebounds, six assists and a steal.
"They wanted to be the aggressors and get into our air space and they did that. By the time we looked up and tried to turn it around, we were in too deep of a hole," Griffin said on this thought about the loss at Houston.
On the other hand, Oklahoma City are coming from an easy victory over the Los Angeles Lakers at the Chesapeake Energy Arena on Saturday. Kevin Durant had 22 points, eight rebounds and two assists in just 29 minutes of the 118-78 win.
"We just tried to make the right play every time down and defensively, we just tried to cover for each other. We came in at halftime and coach Billy Donovan said we've got to still stick with our principles and still play the game the right way and I think we did a good job," Durant said.
Russell Westbrook registered another double-double with 13 points and 11 assists while Enes Kanter added 19 points and 14 boards off the bench. The Thunder lost two of the last three games against the Clippers last season, with Durant missing the only game at Staples Center.
Tip-off in Los Angeles starts 10:30 p.m. ET and is nationally broadcasted via NBA TV. It is also available on Sportsnet ONE for Canada and locally in the U.S. on PRIME TICKET and FS Oklahoma HD.
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