Chris Paul will lead the Los Angeles Clippers (8-4) into Oklahoma City on Thursday night to face off against the 7-3 Thunder, who will no doubt have revenge on their mind after losing last Wednesday at the Staples Center in LA in a game that got scrappy well before halftime. The Clippers have won five of their last six, and will hope to assert their dominance over the defending Western Conference champions, whose season thus far has been good but perhaps not up to expectations. Scroll down to the end of the page to watch a live stream when it airs live from the Chesapeake Energy Arena at 8pm EST.
Paul has worked his wizardry at point to great effect this season, averaging 19.5 points per game and a league-best 12.5 assists. "It's like you can always count on him," forward Blake Griffin told Fox News. "No matter how he's played through three quarters or three and a half quarters or whatever it is, you know he's going to come up with big plays, whether it's assists, steals, scoring, whatever it is." Paul has surpassed Magic Johnson's consecutive double-double record (which stood at 11, set in the 1990-91 season) when he put in 20 points and 11 assists on Wednesday's 102-98 win against Minnesota. ''It's huge man. Magic is a mentor of mine, somebody I look up to,'' Paul told SI after the game. ''His basketball production was unbelievable so be mentioned in anything with him is huge and an honor.''
Tonight could see another big performance from Thunder forward Kevin Durant, who is averaging 33.8 points in his last four games against Los Angeles. On Monday, he had 38 points as the Thunder overcame a 14-point second-half deficit against the Denver Nuggets to beat them 115-113. Guard Russell Westbrook, who had 30 points and 12 rebounds in the victory, noted that his squad have had a bad habit of playing catchup basketball this year. ''It's tough. We can't continue to (fall behind) and put pressure on ourselves," Westbrook said. "We've got to start the game better."
Coach Scott Brooks concurred. "We're going to keep fighting to the last possession,'' Brooks said. ''That's always been a trademark, but we can't just turn it on the second half. We have to correct that. It's my job to find combinations where guys are going to play with more defensive force.'' He added that in order to stop Paul tonight, "We want to have better focus on guarding the ball and staying in front of the ball by putting pressure on the ball and making him feel you on the defensive end," Brooks told the team's official website. "When we do that, our activity and our length and our athleticism can really help our defense." Click here check out the game when it tips off at 8pm EST tonight.
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