Oklahoma City Fizzles In "Lob City"

Grant Belcher, News9.com

LOS ANGELES – When a team hits 63 percent of its shots in the first quarter, its opponent can usually count on an eventual cool-off and a chance to get back in the game.

No such luck for the Thunder in Los Angeles on Monday.

The Los Angeles Clippers shots lights out from the opening tip and seemed to never let up in a 112-100 win over OKC.

L.A. was firing on all cylinders as big men Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan had their way in the paint while the perimeter players shot 52 percent from 3-point range.

The Clippers got off to a seemingly unsustainable pace in the first quarter with their 63 percent shooting leading them to a 36-25 advantage after one.

But even though they cooled off ever so slightly, the Clips still had a 57 percent mark from the field going into halftime, and ended up at 56 percent overall even after some garbage minutes at the end.

Meanwhile, a quick glance down Oklahoma City's scoring chart told the story for the Thunder. Kevin Durant (36 points) and Russell Westbrook (31 points) were both huge for OKC, but no other Thunder player had more than 12 (Daequan Cook with some later 3-pointers).

Even Durant and Westbrook began to come up short on their attempts at the end of the game due to the sheer exhaustion of carrying the team offensively and trying to keep up with the Clippers' fast break.

The 112 points were the most OKC has given up all season, and a large part of that can be attributed not to the Thunder's active players on Monday night but instead who they were missing.

Thabo Sefolosha, one of the top defenders in the league, missed his second straight game with a sore right foot. Sefolosha likely would have spent some time guarding Caron Butler, who had 22 points, including 4-of-8 shooting from 3-point range.

Sefolosha is listed as day-to-day.

The rest of the Clippers (12-6) stuffed the stat sheet as well, with Chris Paul leading the team with 26 points to go with 14 assists.

OKC native Blake Griffin had 22 points and seven rebounds, highlighted by a spectacular dunk over Kendrick Perkins that will be shown on Griffin's highlight reels for years to come.

Unfortunately for Oklahoma City (16-4) the road doesn't get too much easier as it heads to Dallas for a Wednesday night tipoff against the Mavericks. Tip time for that one is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN.


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