Thunder at Clippers
THE STORY: After pulling out a gutsy 109-105 road victory at
Denver on Sunday, the Los Angeles Clippers don’t have much time to
celebrate as they host the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday. Oklahoma
City not only sports the best record in the NBA (16-3) but also has the
best road record (8-2). Chauncey Billups lit up his former Nuggets team
with a season-high 32 points, including 18 on 3-pointers. Chris Paul
scored 25. Thunder coach Scott Brooks, a former point guard, is awed by
Paul and cringes at the thought of defending him and Blake Griffin. “The
guy is one of the best,” Brooks said. “He's clever. He's tough. He's a
coach on the floor. He will make Blake better because he finds him in
the right spots.” Kevin Durant scored a season-high 37 in Oklahoma
City’s 120-109 road victory at Golden State on Friday, helping the
Thunder win its fourth in a row and nine of its last 10.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, FS Oklahoma, Prime Ticket (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE THUNDER (16-3):
Guard James Harden is one of the early favorites for NBA Sixth Man of
the Year and is producing the best statistics of his career. He leads
all reserves with a 16.8 scoring average. He has started only one of 19
games this season and scored in double figures 18 times. He has also
scored 20 or more points in six games and is averaging 4.1 rebounds and
3.2 assists in 29 minutes. In his last five games, Harden is shooting
58.1 percent from the field.
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (11-6):
Billups can only hope his return to his current home is as productive as
his return to Denver, his hometown. In his first game back since a
trade that sent him and Carmelo Anthony to New York last February,
Billups received a standing ovation and several highlights of his
Nuggets days were shown on video scoreboards. Backup guard Eric Bledsoe
was called up from Bakersfield of the Development League but did not
play against Denver.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. Oklahoma City leads the league in free-throw shooting at 80.9 percent.
2. Oklahoma City is 8-0 when outrebounding the opposition.
3.
Billups reiterated that he is trying to get former Denver teammate
Kenyon Martin to join the Clippers. Martin is playing in China, but his
season should end by mid-February.