5 things: Clippers fall to Thunder's Durant, Westbrook down the stretch
The Point God awakens
OKC is bad matchup for Blake Griffin, as Serge Ibaka defends him as well as anybody, and the the Thunder have several big bodies to throw at him. With Griffin held to just 15 points on 7 of 21 shooting, Chris Paul stepped up.
The Point God took the matchup with Russell Westbrook personally -- as he did last month against Stephen Curry -- attacking pick-and-rolls more aggressively and looking for his shot more often. Paul finished with 32 points to go along with 5 rebounds and 10 assists, proving he still belongs in the "best point guard not named Steph Curry" conversation despite his up-and-down season.
A much-needed spark
With Austin Rivers (sprained ankle) and Paul Pierce (rest) out, the bench had a much different look. Cole Aldrich and Pablo Prigioni saw early minutes, as Aldrich replaced Josh Smith -- who received a DNP-CD -- in the rotation. Aldrich provided a jolt of energy, blocking a couple shots, finishing around the rim and competing on the boards.
"I thought he might have been the best player off our bench tonight in some stretches with his energy, his length and his rebounding," coach Doc Rivers said.
"He does his role." It seems as if the rift with Smith and the coaching staff has him benched, as Doc Rivers said he plans to go with Aldrich more moving forward.
OKC's stars come up clutch
There's an argument to be made that Kevin Durant and Westbrook are the two best one-on-one scorers in the league, respectively. The Clippers' defensive personnel and system lends itself to monster performances by perimeter scorers -- particularly wings like Durant. Though Lance Stephenson and Luc Mbah a Moute deserve props for holding Durant to 24 points on 10-of-24 shooting, he still broke out and made the two game-clinching plays at the end: a go-ahead jumper with 5.8 seconds left and a block on Paul's last-second attempt. Westbrook wasn't more effective (33 points on 11-of-25 shooting), but he also made several key plays down the stretch, exposing the Clippers' inability to get stops when needed.
One silver lining
The Clippers are a bad rebounding team, ranking 29th in rebound differential and 27th in rebound rate. Contrarily, the Thunder are the best rebounding team in the league, ranking first in rebound differential and first in rebound rate.
But Los Angeles gave one of its best rebounding efforts tonight, as the guards cracked back for boards consistently and the Clippers out-rebounded the Thunder 45-44. Mbah a Moute (8 rebounds, 4 offensive) was particularly effective. If the Clippers can lock in and compete with the Thunder on the glass, there is no excuse for their otherwise lackadaisical and schematically poor rebounding on other nights.
You are your record
Despite their mediocre 16-13 record, the Clippers have shown they can be a good team with their performances against the West's elite.
They held fourth-quarter leads over the Warriors (twice), Spurs and Thunder, yet in each game couldn't muster enough stops to secure a win. Their offense may gum up at the end of games occasionally, but their defense is undoubtedly their biggest issue. With that said, close losses aren't moral victories at this point. This is year five of the Paul-Griffin-Jordan core, and year three with Rivers.
This team, as currently constructed, doesn't appear to have the mental fortitude or late-game chops to legitimately compete with the top of the West, and they're running out of time to prove otherwise.
