Although they've never been ahead of the Clippers by more than four or five games all season, Oklahoma City has been widely considered a lock for the third seed in the West. Slumping out of the break and with back-to-back games against LA and Golden State, the Thunder could find themselves falling a spot in the conference standings.
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LOOK AHEAD
The Thunder's reputation perhaps benefited from being the last contender to play Golden State, and by escaping Oracle with only an eight-point loss and not a demoralizing or embarrassing defeat. They left the door open just wide enough for people to continue to believe in them. But OKC's gaudy win-loss record and differential has helped mask their flaws and overall weakness of their résumé, and the cracks have become increasingly more apparent since the All-Star break. Two nationally televised losses at home – a demoralizing loss to the Pacers and an embarrassing defeat by the shorthanded Cavs – have lowered their profile in the public eye, and more importantly, brought them closer into the sights of the Clippers.
OKC's success has come mostly against .500-or-below teams, and since beating the Clippers in LA by one point on Dec. 21, Oklahoma City only has six wins against teams over .500. And even those wins came against teams who were slumping and/or injured at the time. During that stretch, they also have five losses to winning teams. And they've had multiple close calls against the likes of the Suns, Lakers, Knicks, Wolves and Magic, and a loss to the woeful Brooklyn Nets. But right now the truth is that they've been a worse team than the Clippers for the last two months. The two teams in fact have near-identical records and differentials since Thanksgiving. Suddenly Los Angeles is a very real threat to catch up to and pass Oklahoma City in the Western Conference standings.
INJURIES
Clippers reserve guard Austin Rivers will have his fractured left hand re-evaluated and if everything goes well he could be in the lineup Wednesday. In all likelihood, Rivers will be out until the weekend. Also, forward Luc Mbah a Moute sustained an eye injury that forced him out of Monday’s game and he is day-to-day.
KEY MATCHUP
Many wondered how a fragile Thunder squad would respond after Saturday’s crushing defeat at the hands of Stephen Curry and the Warriors. They answered emphatically with a resounding 131-116 victory at Sacramento, setting the tone for their road trip which has stops in Los Angeles and Golden State on consecutive nights. OKC got some much needed help from a maligned group of reserves and the usual suspects also came up big, putting that gut-wrenching loss and a stretch of four losses in five games behind them, at least temporarily. But the rolling Thunder is generated by Russell Westbrook, and he came up large again in Sacramento with his ninth triple-double of the season. Westbrook went for 20 points, 15 assists and 13 rebounds and he had his 28th career triple-double before the third quarter buzzer sounded. But this was a different kind of triple-double for Westbrook. His eight field goal attempts were his fewest in a triple-double, and he made six of those for his most accurate shooting game from the field this season.
ANALYSIS AND ODDS PREDICTION
In a lot of ways, the Clippers and Thunder aren't all that different. Their rosters mirror each other closely in their construction: two superstars, a defensive star excelling at certain offensive skills, and a solid fourth option surrounded by inconsistent players. Like Los Angeles, OKC also has a big problem on the wings, and their options at shooting guard are reminiscent of the Clippers' issues on the wing the last few years. Some flaws in OKC’s game have been exposed with the team playing stiffer competition. The bench continues to be a sore spot, but Andre Roberson’s return should help in that area. Also, secondary scoring has been non-existent and if Durant and/or Westbrook stumble, the Thunder are in trouble. The Clips have altered their game since Blake Griffin’s injury and have done rather well going 22-7 SU in his absence. They are playing the style of basketball the Thunder would like to play, and need to play, to hold onto the third seed in the West.
Los Angeles 114, Oklahoma City 109
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