By: Josh Lea | twitter.com/joshuadlea
The Oklahoma City Thunder continue their west coast road trip tonight against the Los Angeles Clippers. OKC is coming off a 119-101 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night. Lou Dort led the team in scoring with 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting. For Denver, Nikola Jokic tallied 27 points on 12-of-21 shooting. The upcoming matchup with the Clippers will be the second game on this road trip. The Thunder will play back-to-back games against the Clippers tonight and Sunday afternoon.
OKC will be without Al Horford against the Clippers. Horford is currently in Oklahoma City following the birth of his daughter. The Thunder will have their hands full with the Clippers as they have soared to the top of the Western Conference standings following a shaky start to the season. The Clippers have a different look than the team that fell to the Denver Nuggets in the NBA bubble last season. Head coach Doc Rivers was relieved of his duties. The Clippers have Tye Lou as the head coach and are one of the hottest teams right now.
The Clippers 2021 roster features former Thunder player Serge Ibaka. Ibaka is averaging 11.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game. The Clippers also have Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, Nicolas Batum, Patrick Beverley, and Lou Williams.
The Clippers currently are number one in the NBA in three-point field goal percentage at 41 percent. However, they struggle with rebounding and scoring the paint ranking in the 20’s league-wide. The Thunder will have their hands full on with the one-two punch of Leonard and George. However, Lou Dort and Darius Bazley will provide the defensive pressure needed to disrupt the Clipper attack. The Thunder will rely on their defense to keep the Clippers at bay as they notch 114 points per game.
The matchup with the Los Angeles Clippers will tip-off at 9 p.m. central time. The Oklahoma Men’s Clinic Thunder forecast with Gideon Hamilton and Bobby Thompson will set the scene at 7:30. Gideon and Bobby will break down the game on the Thunder Recap. Keep up with all the action on Twitter by following @sportsanimal and @thethundershow.
