Thunder at Clippers
The departure of Kevin Durant over the summer freed up Russell Westbrook to assume complete control of the offense for the Oklahoma City Thunder, and he is quickly becoming the most exciting player in the NBA. Westbrook will try to post his third straight triple-double and keep the Thunder undefeated when they visit the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday.
Westbrook became the first player since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to score at least 51 points in a triple-double in a win over Phoenix on Friday and followed it up by turning in 33 points, 16 assists and 12 rebounds in a 113-96 home him over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday. "I just like to win," Westbrook told reporters. "That's my main thing. My job is to come out and do whatever it takes to win, and that's what I try to do every night." The Clippers like to win as well and matched Oklahoma City at 3-0 by breezing past the Phoenix Suns 116-98 on Monday behind 21 points from Blake Griffin, who took some time after the game to look ahead to the date with Westbrook. "He's an unbelievable player, just the impact he has on the game from so many different areas," Griffin told reporters. "The pressure he puts on defenses alone is crazy."
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN, FSN Oklahoma, Prime Ticket (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE THUNDER (3-0): Oklahoma City made some moves on Monday to ensure that Westbrook would have some familiar teammates to grow with in the coming years by locking guard Victor Oladipo into a four-year, $84 million pact and signing center Steven Adams to a four-year, $100 million extension. Oladipo, 24, was acquired in a trade with the Orlando Magic over the summer and is averaging 17 points while starting alongside Westbrook in the backcourt. Adams is the defensive compliment to reserve center Enes Kanter, who signed an extension last year, and is averaging 13 points and nine boards in the early going.
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (3-0): Los Angeles never looks far for points with the likes of Griffin, Chris Paul, Jamal Crawford and J.J. Redick around, but the team is most impressed with its defensive efforts of late. “I think they stayed engaged defensively, No. 1," coach Doc Rivers told reporters after Monday's win. “That’s what they’ve done all year, and they just kept trusting. Like, (shots are) going to fall, and eventually it started falling. Once the basket opened up, the way we were defending, we were in great shape." The Clippers held Utah to 75 points on Sunday and limited Phoenix to 36 in the first half on Monday before letting up a bit.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Clippers C DeAndre Jordan is fighting through a thumb injury suffered Sunday but recorded 19 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks with the thumb wrapped on Monday.
2. Thunder G Andre Roberson did not come to a deal on an extension on Monday and will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season.
3. Oklahoma City took three of the four meetings last season, with Westbrook averaging 27 points, 12.3 assists and 7.5 rebounds.