OKC Thunder Lose To L.A. Clippers, Can't Seem To Get Monkey Off Their Backs

The Oklahoma City Thunder continued to struggle in a loss Wednesday night to the LA Clippers by a score of 107-92 at the Staples Center.  Thunder All-Star Kevin Durant shot a woeful 6-24 from the field as the Thunder lost its' second consecutive game.    

Thunder fans know that their team will have a target on their backs this year but expectations are still high after this Thunder team took the eventual NBA champion LA Lakers to 6 games in the playoffs last year. Clipper fans are just as optimistic this year as perennial superstar Blake Griffin starts his official rookie year after a knee injury in pre-season that sidelined him all of last year. 

The Clippers got their first win of the season improving their record to 1 win against 4 losses.  A crowd of over 18,000 at the Staples Center watched in amazement and cheered their team to victory in a laugher as the OKC Thunder continued to struggle in the loss where they just couldn't seem to get the proverbial "monkey off of their backs."  

Durant sulked and was seen late in the game with a towel over his head when the loss was imminent. "We just didn't show up" said Durant. "I'm the leader of this team.  Everybody follows me.  I didn't show up, the team didn't show up, and that's why we lost."

The talk in OKC is that Durant and Westbrook have "tired legs" because of their extended play during the summer on the U.S.A. International Team but Clipper fans are not buying that because Clipper guard Eric Gordon played in those same games. 

Jeff Green led the Thunder in scoring on a rare night with 19 points and 9 rebounds.  Russell Westbrook had 16 points and led his team with 6 assists but starting guard Thabo Sefolosha played 21 minutes and didn't even score. 

Blake Griffin continued with his usual onslaught of posterizing spectacular dunks when he dunked on Jeff Green and got cheers from the partisan crowd at the same arena that the Clippers share with their cross-town rival L.A. Lakers. 

The Thunder came into this game last in the league in 3-point shooting percentage and missed their first 12 attempts from behind the arc.  Meanwhile the Clippers finished the game with blistering 8 for 16 from 3-point range finishing at 50 percent.   

Griffin had 18 points and 9 rebounds to begin his pursuit to nab this season's Rookie of the Year Award.  Eric Gordon led the Clippers in scoring with 27 points.  Rookie point-guard Eric Bledsoe chipped-in with 17 points and 8 dimes while starting in place of injured veteran guard Baron Davis who watched from the bench in street clothes.   

The Thunder continue their west coast swing and play the Blazers in a back-to-back game tonight. Coach Scott Brooks is not giving up on his team and knows that it is still early in the season for his young team.  "The only thing that you can do is stick together and continue to work and build good habits,” Brooks said.