Riding a league-best four-game winning streak, the LA Clippers will seek to knock off the surging Thunder tonight at home.
Flashback to Nov. 10. The Thunder defeat the Clippers by nine in Oklahoma City. Milos Teodosic sat with a foot injury. Danilo Gallinari‘s left butt cheek was strained. C.J. Williams was barely getting any minutes. LA was also in the midst of a nine-game losing streak, and falling down the standings faster than Austin Rivers after he attempts a lay-up.
Fast-forward to today. The Clippers are playing their best basketball of the season. Blake Griffin is back in MVP form. Teodosic is tearing things up as the team’s starting point guard. Gallinari’s right butt cheek is strained.
What’s different now is that the Clippers have a chance at knocking off one of the West’s best teams tonight, so long as they keep their momentum going.
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Containing the Thunder’s big three will be incredibly important for the Clippers. Oklahoma City took down the Lakers last night by nearly 40 points, and the trio of Russell Westbrook, Paul George, and Carmelo Anthony combined for 65 points.
The biggest threat to the Clippers is George, who scored 42 points in the November matchup of these two teams. With Gallinari out, LA will have to rely on Williams or Wesley Johnson to defend him. Griffin should be able to handle Anthony, and you may as well forget about stopping Westbrook.
The difference tonight will be bench scoring. Lou Williams is as big a threat as ever in the midst of a career year, and there’s no answer for him from the Thunder bench. Williams will be the X-Factor. If he can get things going, a win will be within reach for the LA Clippers.
You can catch tonight’s game at 7:30 PST on TNT.