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| AP Photo/David Zalubowski |
Thunder's previous game: Oklahoma City had a bad night on both ends of the floor, and only led twice (once in the first quarter, and once in the fourth quarter) in their 105-103 loss on the road to the Denver Nuggets.
Oklahoma City started off hot early, grabbing a 17-6 lead behind Russell Westbrook's fifteen points, but that would be the last time they had such a lead. Denver went on a 11-4 run to cut Oklahoma City's lead to just four. The Thunder managed to go into the second quarter with a 29-26 lead as Russell Westbrook scored the Thunder's last three baskets in the closing minutes.
The Nuggets scored forty points in the paint in the first half, and managed to dominate the glass, grabbing seven offensive rebounds, and scored ten second chance points. Kendrick Perkins played just thirteen minutes in the first half while the Nuggets kept pounding the ball inside. Perk's prowess isn't scoring points, it's defending the paint against other bigs and dominating the glass. I'm surprised Scott Brooks didn't play a bigger line up more, considering they had just allowed forty points in the paint in the first half.
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| AP Photo/David Zalubowski |
The Thunder's bench must have ascended to the fifth dimension because they were non existent in the game. Denver's bench out scored the Thunder's bench 71-11, behind Wilson Chandler who had thirty five points off the bench. K-Mart was 1-5 from the field, scoring just three points in the contest. The Thunder's bench problem on the road just seems to be getting worse and worse. K-Mart, who's supposed to be scoring fifteen points a night, needs to find a way to get the ball in the hoop and do so efficiently and consistently.
Down 87-75 going in the fourth, Oklahoma City slowly be surely made their way back into the game, out scoring Denver 28-20 in the quarter. The Thunder went on a 15-6 run in the fourth to tie the game at 91. The Nuggets scored a quick five points after the Thunder came up empty two possessions in a row, to extend their lead back out to 96-91. The Thunder would give up a lead, and tie the game three more times until the final seconds of the game where it was tied 103-103. Ty Lawson dribbled the ball up the court and nailed a 19 footer right in Thabo Sefolosha's face to give the Nuggets a 105-103 lead with .2 seconds left in the game. The Thunder would attempt an in-bound tip in play but would fall short, and lose the game. You can watch Ty Lawson's buzzer beater here.
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| Harry How/Getty Images |
Last meeting with the Clippers: The Thunder took care of the Clippers back in January 109-97, behind Kevin Durant's thirty two points, seven rebounds, and seven assists. Oklahoma City's parameter defense was fantastic in the contest, holding the Clippers to just 25% (4-16) from beyond the arc.
Big Bad Bench wasn't spectacular, but they managed to total twenty five points in the game. The Clipper's star point guard Chris Paul wasn't present in the game because of an injury. Oklahoma City was hitting it from down town, going 15-27 (55%), thanks to KD who was 5-6 from downtown himself. When the Thunder are knocking down the three ball and are limiting their turn overs, their offensive is unstoppable.
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| Kirby Lee-US PRESSWIRE |
The turning point was the third quarter, where Oklahoma City out scored the Clippers 33-23, extending their lead to as much as sixteen in the quarter. Oklahoma City managed to dominate the glass in the quarter, out rebounding the Clippers 9-3. The Thunder gave up twenty nine points in the fourth to LA, but managed to not give up any big runs or turn the ball over, and escaped LA with a 109-97 win.
Thunder Essentials:
BBB(Big Bad Bench) - Scoring just eleven points in the Thunder's last game, the Thunder's bench HAS to have a better game tonight if they want a win. K-Mart needs to find his shot early on and nail the wide open three's he's been missing. Getting to the line hasn't been going well for K-Mart as of late, so hopefully he can lead the Thunder's bench tonight and get to the line for easy points.
Come out strong - It's important for Oklahoma City to come out tonight and take a commanding lead on the Clippers early. If they can get hot from the start and play aggressive defense, they have a real chance of escaping LA with another blow out victory.
No easy points - Don't give the Clippers easy baskets in the paint with lobs. They need to have a body on Deandre Jordan and Blake Griffin the entire time they are playing. Kendrick Perkins has shown success in the past guarding both these players, despite the infamous "get dunkd on" Blake Griffin threw down on him a couple of seasons ago.
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