Oklahoma City Thunder vs. LA Clippers: Grading the Clippers' Performance
The Oklahoma City Thunder packed their maps of celebrity homes and headed for the City of Angels to play the Los Angeles Clippers Wednesday night. It was not a very angelic exhibition, but the Clippers surged ahead in the second half and held on for a 111-103 victory.
Kevin Durant led all scorers with 33 points and converted 15 free throws. Blake Griffin led the Clippers with 22 points and 12 rebounds, while Chris Paul passed out 16 assists to his eager teammates.
The Thunder led 62-53 at the half, but the game turned upon one play with six seconds remaining in the second quarter. Blake Griffin secured an offensive rebound and purposely locked up Serge Ibaka's arm. Ibaka flung him off and received a two-handed shove from Matt Barnes. A schoolyard scuffle ensued, but the most violent action was Ibaka's cocked fist held high behind his own ear for a couple of seconds.
Nothing happened—no one threw a punch—but there was that threat of the Serge Protector unleashing the full breadth of his powers. After a prolonged huddle between the refs, they ejected Barnes and Ibaka while Griffin was hit with a technical. At the time of the ejection, Barnes was 0-of-5 shooting and Ibaka was 6-of-6.
The Clippers used Iblocka's absence to own the third quarter, outscoring the Thunder 30-16 and seizing the lead. L.A. led by as many as 13 points in the fourth before OKC sliced the deficit to four with under four minutes remaining. But Jamal Crawford held off the comeback attempt with 12 fourth-quarter points as the Clippers outlasted the Ibaka-less Thunder.
Read on for grades of the entire Clippers lineup in this testy and tasty victory.
PG, Chris Paul: A-
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Chris Paul struggled from the field against OKC, but he was deft with the dimes. He ticked every box on the stat sheet and finished with an impressive line, except for the shooting.
Paul logged nearly 41 minutes on the night and came away with 14 points on 5-of-15 shooting. He also piled up 16 assists with just two turnovers for a Clippers offense that was humming in the second half. CP3 also tallied seven rebounds, three steals and a block.
His kleptomaniac defense is so easy to forget about when he's dishing and swishing on a nightly basis, but it makes his game so dynamic and so integral to the Clippers' success. As the old saying goes, "defense never goes cold." New coach Doc Rivers is surely reveling over the early returns from his point guard.
SG, J.J. Redick: B
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J.J. Redick was the Clippers' leading scorer for much of the game, but he did not do so very efficiently. He finished up 5-of-13 from the field for 15 points with two assists and a steal.
Redick is a little streaky, but he can turn it on in a hurry. Having both Redick and Jamal Crawford at their disposal means that the Clippers can let their hotter hand on the perimeter go bombs away. If the Clippers can figure out how to play tough half-court defense, they'll really be in business.
SF, Jared Dudley: B-
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Jared Dudley turned in his usual middling performance, but he did hit double-digit points. He went 3-of-8 from the field for 10 points and grabbed a pair of offensive rebounds. He was also responsible for three of the Clippers' 22 turnovers, but the Thunder fumbled away 22 turnovers themselves, so let's not talk about all those ugly turnovers.
Entering Wednesday, Dudley was averaging 7.5 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 27.1 minutes per game. It's not particularly impressive, but it's also not far off from his stats with the Phoenix Suns. He's not an overwhelming presence at the 3, but he's more than competent. Nevertheless, the Clippers' starting wings are a cause for slight concern.
PF, Blake Griffin: A+
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Blake Griffin and Matt Barnes may have conspired to get Serge Ibaka heated up and thrown out, and if they did, they are geniuses. However, I don't think that they're geniuses.
While the incident was completely Griffin's fault for tugging on the arm, he remained in the game and compiled enviable stats. Beyond just Lob City, Griffin delivered assists and generated steals. We should also point out that not having to match up with Ibaka helps.
Griffin led the Clippers with 22 points and 12 rebounds, six of those coming on the offensive glass. He even handed out seven assists and snagged three steals. And he got Ibaka, ejected which most teams don't think of doing. Good idea!
C, DeAndre Jordan: A
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DeAndre Jordan very quietly put together a stellar all-around game. He notched 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting plus nine boards (three offensive), two steals and two blocks. He even made 3-of-4 from the charity stripe!
If Doc Rivers can harness Jordan's athleticism and actually mold him into a well-rounded big, his game could be scary on all kinds of levels. Imagine Kevin Garnett's feistiness added to the leaping ability of a gazelle, and you will start to approximate Jordan's ceiling. It's a pretty steep learning curve.
Bench: A-
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Matt Barnes had zero points and one shove in the first half. In the second half, his most notable contribution was a tweet regarding the incident that was definitely not safe for work. It has since been deleted, but you can check out all you need to know about the incident here.
Jamal Crawford was not ejected, and he was feeling it against the Thunder and drilled three three-pointers on his way to 20 points. Twelve of those points came in the fourth quarter and helped throw water on the OKC comeback attempt. Sure, he had five turnovers, but why complain?
Darren Collison had eight points and two rebounds, but that is not what you need to know about. He played less than 17 minutes and still managed to snatch four steals!
Ryan Hollins attempted two shots and made two shots on a perfect evening. Byron Mullens and Reggie Bullock played the same amount of time and cobbled together three points off free throws. They also grabbed seven rebounds between them.
The Clippers move to 6-3 with the win and get a couple of days off before hosting the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday.
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