SB Nation - Al Thornton

Game 28 Recap: Rockets defeat Clippers 108-99 behind Landry's 27 points

Tom Martin — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 05:35:01 -0000

More photos » by Bill Baptist - NBAE/Getty Images

You know, Carl Landry smiles -- scratch that, genuinely laughs -- while he's on the court more often than any player I watch. On two separate occasions, each after making a difficult shot over Marcus Camby, Landry jogged back down the floor, showing off whatever remains of his pearly whites, as if he had just gotten away with placing a whoopee cushion underneath the principal's chair. After all of the troubles that Carl has been through, it's a pleasure to see what has become such a rarity in today's game: an NBA player who looks like he is actually having fun.

Then again, scoring twenty-seven points off the bench may have had something to do with that.

More so than anything, Landry can thank his improved free-throw shooting for making him such a dangerous player in the post. If opponents foul him, it's nearly an automatic two points. Any post player shooting 87 percent from the free-throw line is going to be dangerous. Add Landry's intensity into the mix, and you've got yourself a moving landmine on the block - you touch it, you're dead.

Though it may have been Landry's final eight minutes of the game that served to determine the outcome, it was Tracy McGrady's similar amount of playing time that had everyone on edge. In all of my years of watching Tracy play, I have never once seen him that agressive driving to the rim. Perhaps it was because Rasual Butler was guarding him. Perhaps it was because he was guarding Butler, and wouldn't have to play much defense (trust me, he didn't). Or, it could have been due to his knowledge of how little he would play, and how much effort he could afford to exert in that time period. Whatever the case, McGrady looked as healthy as he has looked in the last two years. He attacked the rim, made his open jump shots, and dished out some incredible passes, including a mid-air, no-look ball through two defenders to Luis Scola for a lay-up.

Now, before you even think about it, catch yourself - this does NOT mean that Tracy's minutes should be upped. Keep him comfortable, keep him in rhythm game by game, and keep him healthy, either as trade bait, or, if he keeps playing well, for extended use during a playoff run. The last thing Rick Adelman needs to do is abandon the schedule that he laid out for Tracy. The fact that Jermaine Taylor played tonight (impressively, at that) indicates that Adelman doesn't plan on changing anything.

Shifting gears, Kyle Lowry had another great game, and has been really impressive of late. He may not be to the point of eclipsing Aaron Brooks for the starting point guard job, but he's certainly proved capable of running the show late in games when Brooks is having an off night. Normally, I'd say that Aaron needs to be more consistent, or something like that, but Lowry has been so good that there's really no point. At the end of a ballgame, I'll take whoever is more locked in. Isn't that a comfortable feeling?

Regarding the Clippers, Chris Kaman could be the worst possible match-up for Chuck Hayes. He's quick for his size, and keeps the ball high towards his chin, preventing Chuck from harrassing him with his hands during a post move. Sometimes, at least according to Barry Corbin, "you can't stop what's coming."

Al Thornton continues to slowly develop into fellow statistical nightmare Al Harrington, though Harrington is actually capable of making three-pointers. I really don't see what some people like in Thornton. He takes way too many bad jump shots, and until he makes a shot and his name is announced on the PA, you forget that he is even there.

Finally, Steve Novak appeared in what was probably the most glorious twenty-one seconds of basketball that I have ever witnessed. Defense be damned, at least when Novak's on the court.

So, when is our next game? Tomorrow at Orlando, you say? Oh boy, do we love those back-to-backs or what!?!?

Game 28 Preview: Houston Rockets vs. Los Angeles Clippers - 7:30PM CST

UofTOrange — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 20:20:21 -0000

More photos » by Mark J. Terrill - AP

More elbows for Carl, this time from the Clippers' Craig Smith. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

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Point Guard
Aaron Brooks vs. Baron Davis - Anyone still want Baron Davis over Aaron Brooks? I still like the guy, he's crazy entertaining. But contract vs. contract and player vs. player, Aaron is the winner
Edge: Rockets

Shooting Guard
Shane Battier vs. Eric Gordon - Gordon doesn't turn the ball over, but he doesn't necessarily pass it either. Of course you can't blame him for that as he is a good shooter and is the future of this Clippers team. Look through this roster, for all the crap Dunleavy has gotten as a coach, as a GM he's done some darn nice things. Gordon can't score on Battier with regularity if the Rockets choose to shut him down. However, they might force him to shoot the ball and not even let him try to involve his team from the passing end.
Edge: Clippers

Small Forward
Trevor Ariza vs. Al Thornton - Raise your hand if you bought into the hype that Al Thornton was a great player waiting to happen? My hand is not raised. That's not to say he doesn't have a solid future. He'll clearly be around for a long time but I just don't see this superstar that people tried to make him in to.
Edge: Rockets

Power Forward
Luis Scola vs. Marcus Camby - Has anyone been more rumored to be loved as a back-up center for the Rockets than Marcus Camby? He's still a good basketball player but clearly not 9MM good. Luis Scola is that good and he makes a third of that. Last night on the 1560 No Layups show we talked about the best Rocket of 2009 and Luis Scola was my answer. He epitomizes everything that Daryl Morey wants in a player.
Edge: Rockets

Center
Chuck Hayes vs. Chris Kaman - Yeah for Chris Kaman! He's finally healthy and the one guy that destroys him is recovering until next season. Kaman is a really good player, and frankly pretty underrated. Chuck Hayes is actually a really good defender to go after Kaman and it should be pretty interesting to see how Kaman deals with it.
Edge: Clippers

Injuries/Suspensions
Houston Rockets
OUT - Chase Budinger
Detroit Pistons
OUT - Blake Griffin, the first overall pick in the draft is still out with a broken kneecap

My Prediction: I have no idea. This Clippers team should be better than it is, and will be when Griffin gets back, but never underestimate that they are coached by Mike Dunleavy. Rockets by 6?

Check out Clips Nation

WIN! Oh wait.

TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsMichaelBourn — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 06:08:30 -0000

More photos » by H. Rumph Jr - AP

Is that a sock in your pants, Mr. Kaman, or did you just drop 18 and 10 in the first half?

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After a pretty impressive comeback against an even worse team, Andre Iguodala seemed to have won the game on a buzzer-beater from just inside the three point line at the top of the key, but replays showed the red light went on when the ball was still in his hands. In overtime, we got played, as defensive ineffectiveness and poor rebounding kept us from getting the W.

I'll only touch on the negatives because they're the same ones we've seen all season: piss poor defense, especially against a team with a legitimate post threat, the inability to make good decisions late in games, and horrible 3-point shooting. Jrue played real bad, but didn't turn the ball over, which I guess is a positive. He got shredded on D by Baron Davis, one of the best offensive points in the league. Lou Williams was just as bad, and for the second time in a row, Eddie Jordan played an injured player too much, too soon in their first game back. He truly is an idiot.

But since we're in the Christmas spirit of optimism (!!!!!), let's look at the positives, shall we?

Mo, Mo, Mo - He's a really good offensive player. He's tenacious, he's tough, he's clever, he's a whole lotta man. John said it somewhere that if he showed the same intensity on D as he did on the other end, he'd be a phenomenal basketball player. What he is right now is a great talent. He was the guy we went to in crunch time, and succeeded, drawing fouls, including a crucial 6th to Chris Kaman (who murdered us tonight), and a gutsy one-hander after a spin move and a bunch of uncalled slaps on the baseline. I love what he's been showing us, especially on the boards, where he seems to be going at it with more determination. He should be our starting center.
Thaddeus Young - Against Boston he only got 3 boards after three straight games of 10+. Tonight he got his big ol' hands on 8 rebounds, showing some toughness against a notoriously angry Al Thornton, and played pretty decent defense, forcing him to take (and make) a tough shot in the waning moments of the game. His offense and fast-break improvements were on full display tonight, getting hot in the first quarter, then taken out by Eddie and never going back to him later. Thanks, Ed.
Andre Iguodala - He's good. Human fast-break, defensive stalwart, getting into passing lanes, setting up teammates, and finally, coming super close to winning this game on a loose ball prayer. But to no avail. 20, 9, 7, and 4 steals are what we expect of Andre on a nightly basis, and it's good to take a moment every once in a while to say "hey, most guys don't do that." Kid can play, we're lucky to have him on our ballclub.
Willie Green - He wasn't bad, and actually, he really hasn't been bad all season. I still don't want him to play because he's getting in the way of Jrue, but he's having a solid year despite all the crap we (and I) always give him. 45% from the field, 90% from the line, 3 to 1 assist to turnover ratio, 33% from beyond. I'd still trade him in a heartbeat, and he looks clueless out there from time to time, but compared to past years, he's....ok.
10 minutes for Dalembert - 5 fouls. Next year's expiring contract can't come soon enough.

So it turns out that last night's tease doesn't mean we're championship contenders. Go figure, they had me convinced. I already bought playoff tix! We're 7-20 people. Please realize what we have here and we can all move forward civilly in hopes of a future that includes a better draft pick and no Haitian center.

In sad news, the Cowboys won. The Saints were due for a loss after eeking out some close ones, but it's never fun to watch the 'girls celebrate. Can't wait for the Cowboys collective balloon to deflate next week when the Redskins beat them. Good luck with the snow everybody, and more importantly, Go Birds.

Orlando Magic 97, Los Angeles Clippers 86

Ben Q Rock — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 07:32:59 -0000

More photos » by Gus Ruelas - AP

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Dwight Howard's stellar all-around play keyed the Orlando Magic's 8th consecutive road win tonight as they defeated the host Los Angeles Clippers, 97-88. On his 24th birthday, Howard tallied 25 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, and a season-high 7 blocked shots, leading Orlando in all 5 of those categories. He also shot 7-of-10 from the field and 11-of-15 at the foul line. His brilliance took the spotlight away from Vince Carter, Rashard Lewis, and Jason Williams, the other Magic players to score in double-figures. Lewis and Williams hit 4 three-pointers apiece and Orlando drilled 14 as a team. Second-year shooting guard Eric Gordon led L.A. with 21 points on 12 shots, while point guard Baron Davis traded poor shooting (7-of-19, 18 points) for solid playmaking (11 assists, 0 turnovers) which helped keep the Clippers in the game.

Team	Pace	Efficiency	eFG%	FT Rate	OReb%	TO Rate
Magic	88	109.8	54.9%	26.8	19.4	19.2
Clippers	93	92.0	43.5%	14.1	19.6	13.9
Green denotes a stat better than the team's season average; red denotes a stat worse than the team's season average.

Tonight's contest followed a pattern that we've seen from this Magic team in recent years: it jumps out to an early lead, the opponent grinds back into contention in the two middle periods, only for the Magic to shut its offense down in the fourth period. The Magic's frequent turnovers, especially in the second quarter, led to easy transition baskets for the Clippers. In a halfcourt setting, though, their offense didn't muster much against Orlando. The Magic assigned small forward Mickael Pietrus to cover Davis, which took away his driving lanes. The crossmatch forced either Williams or Anthony Johnson to cover Gordon, who looked to post up in order to exploit the mismatch. This strategy worked for a bit, but the biggest factor in limiting the Clippers' offense was Howard's defense on Chris Kaman, an unheralded player in his seventh year posting All-Star-caliber numbers here in the early going. Kaman took 22 shots, the most of any Clipper, but Howard limited him to 8 makes, for 16 points. Excellent work by Howard, who was not whistled for a defensive foul at all, in 43 minutes of work.

Kaman did have his moments defensively, ending the Magic's first 3 possessions of the second quarter with a block and consecutive steals, including an impressive deflection of a Matt Barnes alley-oop intended for Howard. This came after Howard scored 12 points in the first period. From the second quarter on the Clippers' defense adjusted, sending quick double-teams at Howard and daring the Magic's outside shooters to beat them. This strategy worked, to a certain extent. Howard didn't make another field goal until the fourth quarter, and the Magic shot 8-of-26 on three-pointers after a blazing, 6-of-8 start in the first quarter. Orlando won this game with its defense, without question.

To be fair, an extraordinary number of the Magic's shots bounced out after going halfway down; the unkind rim victimized J.J. Redick twice in the first half alone.

Credit the Clippers' defense for holding the Magic to 39 points in the second and third quarters after surrendering 34 in the first quarter alone. Orlando's turnovers and L.A.'s own deft passing on the perimeter helped them surmount what had been a 13-point Magic lead midway through the second quarter. With Kaman's post game neutralized, the Clippers had to rely on Gordon, Davis, and Al Thornton to score with a jumper or a drive to the hoop. Howard's help defense down low challenged numerous shots--and he blocked 7 others, remember--so the game would ultimately come down to whether or not the Clippers could get hot from midrange and beyond.

No such luck. DeAndre Jordan gave the Clippers their last lead at 69-68 with a dunk at the 2:55 mark of the third. The Clippers didn't mak another field goal until the 7:24 mark of the fourth, on a Thornton dunk after he rebounded his own miss. Prior to that dunk, Orlando had gone on a 14-2 to wrest momentum away from L.A.

I'm not sure what the big takeaway from tonight's game is; these sorts of wins (not to be confused with "wins" in general) have become sort-of routine. Enjoy Howard's growth, Lewis' sharpshooting, and Williams' efficient play (16 points on 11 shots, 3 assists, no turnovers), and the knowledge that you're watching a Magic team that just improved to 17-4 for the best start in franchise history.

Traveler's Tales: Grizzlies lose to Clippers 98-88

djturtleface — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 01:55:44 -0000

by Gus Ruelas - AP

23 days ago: Memphis Grizzlies guard O.J. Mayo, center, attempts to get by Los Angeles Clippers forward Craig Smith, left, and guard Eric Gordon, right, in the second half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009, in Los Angeles. The Clippers won 98-88. (AP Photo/Gus Ruelas)

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If there's something more painful than watching your team put up one of the worst 4th quarters in basketball, it has to be getting on a plane with your team up 16 points, then seeing that they've lost by 10 when you land. I didn't believe it at first; it had to be a mistake by ESPN. But after booting up my League Pass and watching the game, it was clear that I wasn't the only tired traveler.

The Grizzlies just fell apart in the fourth. O.J. Mayo couldn't even come close to guarding his less-heralded arch rival Eric Gordon, and Al Thornton also stepped up to make some big shots. They turned the ball over, couldn't execute anything, and it showed as forced shot after forced shot kept clanking.

Head over to Clips Nation to give them their due, bang your head against a wall, and get some rest, because we go back at it tomorrow against the Utah Jazz. Awards and, as per usual, your insights are over the jump.

Rockness Monster: Is Marc Gasol ever going to give this spot up? The Spaniard is, arguably, outplaying his brother Pau Gasol during his stay in Memphis. I mean, seriously, Zach Randolph wasn't exactly reaping vengeance out there and Marc just carried the post with 26 points, 5 boards, 6 assists, 3 steals, and 3 blocks.

U-Turn: The Grizzlies had an uncharacteristically poor rebounding night tonight, largely due to Z-Bo's inability to make much happen out there. Marc started seeing double-teams from Chris Kaman and Marcus Camby, both defensive stalwarts, and it led to a tough night. The runner-up was Z-Bo dishing 4 assists after recognizing that he probably should avoid shooting -- big ups, big man.

Bitter Limon: Mike Conley is still starting over Jamaal Tinsley, which isn't how things should be. Tinsley deserved and got the lion's share of the minutes, but Lionel Hollins needs to set the ship right before there are any locker room tiffs.

Sleeping With the Enemy: I would rather have Eric Gordon than O.J. Mayo. Really. No, really. In his second or third game back, Gordon looked special. Even Old Man Camby had this to say about kid:

"Eric's a phenomenal player," Camby said. "I think he has the potential to be a special player like the LeBrons, the Kobes and the Carmelos. You'll be mentioning Eric Gordon's name for a long time."

Now that might be taking it a little bit far, but Eric Gordon and Blake Griffin are going to be a terrible two-some in the upcoming years.

Poll

You must choose.

Eric Gordon

58 votes

O.J. Mayo

23 votes

81 votes | Poll has closed

Clippers at Indiana - Game Preview

Steve Perrin — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 07:16:06 -0000

More photos » by CHRIS YOUNG - AP

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2009/2010 NBA Regular Season
	vs
6-9		5-7
Conseco Fieldhouse
November 25th, 2009, 4:00 PM
Prime Ticket, 980 AM
Probable starters:
Baron Davis	PG	T.J. Ford
Rasual Butler	SG	Brandon Rush
Al Thornton	SF	Danny Granger
Marcus Camby	PF	Troy Murphy
Chris Kaman	C	Jeff Foster

The Back Story:

First meeting of the season. The teams split their two meetings last season, each winning on the other's floor.

The Big Picture:

The Clippers have a modest two game winning streak going, against opponents at different ends of the NBA spectrum. After beating the Nuggets on Friday, they struggled against the one win Timberwolves on Monday. Tonight, they try to extend their streak against an opponent that is in between. The Pacers are 5-7. Among the Clippers 9 losses are games against the Grizzlies and the Hornets - so they're more than capable of losing to mediocre teams. Eric Gordon's status may play a big part in how competitive the team is. He's missed seven games now and the team struggles mightily to score from the perimeter without him. EJ would love to play in front of his hometown fans - he says there may be about 2000 of them for this game - but his sore hamstring may not allow him to. He's due back soon, and listed as questionable. He'll definitely play if he can. Whether he plays or not, the Clippers will hope to get bounce back games from Baron Davis (1 for 10 Monday) and Chris Kaman (6 for 20, 1 fr 8 in the second half). In fact, given the way Al Thornton has been playing lately (31 and 10 against Minnesota), the Clippers could really get on a roll if they could get everyone playing well at once. Of course that never seems to happen for the Clippers.

The Antagonist:

The potential return of Eric Gordon for the Clippers is balanced by the potential return of Mike Dunleavy Jr. for the Pacers. Knee injuries kept MDjr out of all but 18 games last season, and he hasn't played since early February. He's been medically cleared to play at this point and could make his season debut tonight. Would MDjr have extra incentive to play tonight against his dad, just like Gordon has incentive to play in his hometown? Without MDjr, yhe Pacers have been a streaky team this season - they lost three straight to open the season, then won five in a row, and have since lost four straight. So are they going to extend their losing streak, or start a new winning streak tonight? The Pacers are led by Danny Granger who is averaging over 24 points per game, but his efficiency is off some this season - he's shooting a career low .426 from the field. The Pacers, true to their name, play at the second fastest pace in the league, behind only the Warriors. Unfortunately, they don't do much with those extra possessions, being 24th in the league in effective field goal percentage (Granger has a hand in that). Beyond Granger, and with MDjr out, the Pacers are a mishmash of youngsters showing promise (Roy Hibbert, Brandon Rush, Tyler Hansborough), and veterans who are capable on any given day (T.J. Ford, Troy Murphy). This is not a great team - but it's a dangerous team, as the Celtics found out earlier this season.

The Subplots:

Greetings from sunny Mexico. I'm in Cabo with the family for Thanksgiving. I was planning to watch the games on League Pass broadband, but found out when I got here that all the games are blacked out for my account internationally. Ooops. So no Clippers for me until next week.
Pacers on a back to back. Indy lost in Toronto last night, so they're coming off a game with significant travel in between. The Clippers had a day off, but obviously had to travel a lot further. This is the first of two Eastern Conference road games for the Clippers. They go to Detroit on Friday before returning home.
Granger and the three. Danny Granger has seemingly fallen in love with the three ball - he's leading the league in three attempts at almost 9 per game. In fact, almost half of his field goal attempts (47%) this season are from behind the arc. He was always willing to shoot the three - but this season he's been quite the chucker, and his percentage is down below 35% after being above 40% the last two seasons. MDsr may put Butler on Granger on the perimeter - but whoever draws the assignment will have to be alert and stay close.
Consistently inconsistent. Like the Clippers, the Pacers have some games that are pretty hard to figure this season. For one thing, they're probably not as good as that 5 game winning streak looked. Four of the wins came against some really weak competition - the Knicks, the Nets, the Warriors and the Wizards. But the fifth game came against the Celtics. On the other side of the ledger, this latest losing streak includes losses to the Knicks and the Bobcats.
Korolev. No LAC game against the Pacers is complete without the prerequisite mention of the 2005 draft, in which the Clippers took Yaroslav Korolev while Granger was still on the board. There, I mentioned it, let's move on.
Dahntay Jones. Believe it or not, the Pacers' second leading scorer so far at over 17 a game is Dahntay Jones, whose career average is about 5. The Pacers signed him as a defensive stopper on the perimeter, and he's come in and had a couple of 25 point games.
Kareem's Little Brother. There are four sets of brothers in the NBA currently. We know that three of them play for the Suns, but two of them play for the Clippers. In addition to the Griffin brothers (Blake and Taylor) the NBA also features the Rush brothers, Kareem and Brandon. Kareem of course tore his ACL last week, but Brandon is now the starting shooting guard for the Pacers.
Kaman's scoring down. After scoring 20 or more in 9 of the first 10 games, Chris Kaman has now had four straight below 20. Against the Wolves, he took good shots - they just weren't falling. Hopefully they'll go in tonight. Although Jeff Foster is a solid defensive center, I think Kaman can face him up and use his quickness to either get to the basket or create space for his jumper. Hibbert is crazy long, but Chris should enjoy a pretty significant strength advantage.
Movie Quote:
I got nuthin'. What exactly is a Pacer, anyway? Then I tried "Indiana" and got a bunch of Indiana Jones quotes. I like the Indiana Jones movies certainly, but it didn't really seem to fit the theme.
Get the Pacers' perspective (whatever a Pacer is) at Indy Cornrows.

Give Me Two: Grizzlies vs. Clippers Preview

djturtleface — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:05:09 -0000

by David Zalubowski - AP

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Tonight the Grizzlies will get their first second look at a team when the Los Angeles Clippers visit Memphis. Chris Kaman is eating a rack of ribs as I speak. Baron Davis is trying to get the sauce out of his beard.

Get over the jump for my preview, and stop by Clips Nation for their rather comprehensive look.

I don't believe in Coach Hollins, but I also don't believe that you can truly judge a coach until you see how he reacts to playing a team the second time. Hollins has slowed down the Grizzlies in the past few games, which has caused their efficiency on the offensive end to plummet and hasn't addressed the defensive issues either.

With team like last year's Magic and this year's Suns proving that pace and defense aren't inversely correlated, I'd like to hope that Hollins sticks with his intuition and lets the bulls run tonight. Let Rudy do his thing against Al Thornton and Rasual Butler, Zach Randolph doing what he wants whether Hollins likes it or not, and maybe let O.J. Mayo try to be the primary ball handler with Butler matching up against him.

Defending the Clips should be much easier tonight, with them coming off a long loss last night and Eric Gordon, who is every bit as much a franchise player as O.J., out still. Baron Davis will be a gamebreaker. By my estimation a nice night from Boom Dizzle will probably win it, a bad game will lose it.

Look for all the Grizzlies to have another nice night offensively, but for Rudy Gay to bounce-back in particular. Marc Gasol should have a bit of a down night dealing with Chris Kaman and Marcus Camby, both of whom are effective against players like himself, but if Zach Randolph has a heart, he'll play it out tonight.

As much as I hate to knock on what little wood the Grizzlies have left, I'm going to stick my neck out and predict a Grizzlies win in this one. The team has said the right things to the media in the wake of Iverson-gate, and I like their chance to be focused after this long break in the schedule.

Loud Links | 11.17.2009

manifestus — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 02:09:44 -0000

More photos » by Sue Ogrocki - AP

"Wait ... really, I'm better than Westbrook at guarding people!" Portland Trail Blazers guard Steve Blake, right, shoots over Oklahoma City Thunder guard Kevin Ollie, left, in the first quarter of an NBA basketball game in Oklahoma City, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2009. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

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So today's links are going to be a tad haphazard, what with the game ongoing as I throw this up. Nonetheless ... what's new for the day? For one, lots of stuff harping on how OKC isn't ready for the big stage. You know -- getting trampled by the Clippers was .. well, to put it another way -- who gets destroyed by the Clippers (or more importantly, the Kings)? There's also news regarding Livingston's knee (which was noted earlier on here by ElectricPencils), stuff from some of our recent opponents detailing their success against us, an article on Kevin Ollie, stuff on Beasley's relationship with Durant, and more. We're going to start with Kevin Ollie, since it was the most interesting one to read (at least for me).

Kevin Ollie: From Player to Coach? | hoopsworld.com
[With the way Westbrook is playing, I'm starting to wonder if Ollie can possibly do any worse (okay, joking here) ... then again mayhap we can blame his terrible coaching ...] Westbrook and Ollie have already developed a special relationship based on mutual respect. "I've learned from him and he's learned from me. I that's the big thing, we trust one another," says Ollie. "I know I'm here for him, for his best interests and he does the same for me. Anything he sees that I'm doing wrong, he's able to come up to me, and it's the same way [that I help him]."

Kevin Durant is still rooting for Michael Beasley | NewsOK.com
[Interesting story, since we don't often get any sort of information from this sort of angle.] "I didn’t want to be the guy that said the same things everybody else had said," Durant said. "So I just prayed for him. That’s all I could do because I didn’t know what to tell him." Durant does know how close Beasley came to not being here, in sound mind and spirit as his Miami Heat gears up to take on the Thunder tonight at American Airlines Arena. That’s why, for Durant, tonight’s contest will take on greater significance.

More after the jump.

Thunder's Shaun Livingston to have knee surgery | NewsOK.com
[So here's the first of three news releases regarding Livingston's knee.] "Recently, Shaun has experienced an increase in swelling following activity," said Thunder Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti. "Although his knee is structurally sound, after consulting with the Thunder medical staff and Dr. James Andrews, it was determined that the best course of action was to perform a minor procedure to resolve the swelling and allow Shaun to continue full activity in the coming weeks."

Thunder's Livingston has staples removed from surgically repaired left knee | The Canadian Press
[Part 2.] "Everything went well," coach Scott Brooks said before the Thunder played the Heat in Miami. "It was minor surgery." Brooks said there's no timetable for the return of Livingston, who has spent nearly three years trying to recover from tearing three ligaments in an ugly spill during a game in February 2007.

Thunder's Livingston to have knee staples removed | SI.com
[And ... Part 3.] OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -Oklahoma City forward Shaun Livingston was scheduled to undergo surgery Tuesday to remove staples from an earlier procedure on his left knee. No timetable for his return has been set. Livingston had the knee rebuilt after he tore three ligaments during a gruesome spill in a February 2007 game. Dr. James Andrews, who performed the earlier procedure, was scheduled to handle his operation Tuesday in Birmingham, Ala.

Thunder notebook: Scott Brooks pleased but not satisfied 10 games in | NewsOK.com
[Yeah, obviously you're not so happy when you lose to the Kings and the Clippers. I wouldn't be either. I like how these articles sometimes state the obvious.] Thunder coach Scott Brooks refused to say he was content with the Thunder’s 5-5 record through 10 games, but he does see progress in his team. "I wouldn’t use the word happy, but I like what we’ve done," Brook said. "We went into training camp and focused on defense, and I see that being pretty consistent...And guys are giving effort. I can’t complain about the effort."

OffshoreInsiders | Sports Betting Picks
[I guess we'll see right?] The Oklahoma City Thunder and the Miami Heat will both be gunning for a victory on Tuesday when they meet at AmericanAirlines Arena. Oddsmakers currently have the Heat listed as 5-point favorites versus the Thunder, while the game’s total has not yet been posted.

Al Thornton weighs in on woes | latimes.com
[In case you wanted a reminder of ultimate failure ... here's what the Clipper's are saying. I'm not sure it was so much Thorton doing anything, but rather the Thunder playing terribly. Perhaps both?] Thornton's most complete game came Sunday, when he scored a season-high 20 points in the Clippers' 101-93 victory against the Oklahoma City Thunder, which ended the team's three-game losing streak. The scoring was one thing but his teammates noticed his focused aggressiveness. One play, in particular, stood out for Marcus Camby.

The Orlando Magic remember their loss to Oklahoma City Thunder well | Orlando Sentinel
How couldn't they remember? The defeat occurred just nine days ago, and Thunder humiliated them 102-74. The Thunder shot 57.1 percent from the field, while the Magic managed to shoot just 36.8 percent. The Thunder also out-rebounded the Magic 45 to 30, although that's a bit misleading when you consider that Oklahoma City made so many more shots, giving the Magic fewer misses to collect on their defensive end.

Game #10: Oklahoma City Thunder (5-5) vs. Miami Heat (7-2) | Peninsula is Mightier
Durant leads a promising but underachieving young core for Oklahoma City. In just 3 short years he has become one of the more exciting swingmen in the league and will be a handful for Quentin Richardson, who is more then likely going to draw Durant as a defensive assignment. In 10 games this year he is averaging 28.1 points and 7.4 rebounds while playing in over 40 minutes a game. He's 5th in the NBA in scoring just 1.6 points behind Dwyane Wade who sits in 4th.

Page 2 — NBA Week 3 Power Rankings | BetUS Locker Room
13. Oklahoma City Thunder 6-4 (up 4) The Thunder have future all-star-quality players at point guard, shooting guard and both forward positions, not to mention the fact that center Nenad Kristic is also a very impressive player. The Thunder beat the Spurs this past week, but followed that also split games with the Clippers to move up four spots.

Vote: Who is the NBA's best player under the age of 23? | Orlando Sentinel
[So of course an Orlando Sentinel article thinks Howard is the best under 23 player. I love polls like that ...] Led by 21-year-old Kevin Durant and 21-year-old Russell Westbrook, the Oklahoma City Thunder will play the Orlando Magic tomorrow night at Amway Arena. That leads me to ask a simple question: Who is the NBA's best player under the age of 23? I chose that number because Dwight Howard is 23, and he's already an All-NBA first-team player.

Game 10 Preview: Los Angeles Clippers at Oklahoma City

Zorgon — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:48:41 -0000

More photos » by Chris Carlson - AP

Can Russell Westbrook become the next Baron Davis? Well, he has to get past him first.

Browse more photos »

This also counts as an open thread, so feel free to post your thoughts during the game here.

Time: 6:00 PM Central Standard Time

Place: The Ford Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

TV: Fox Sports Oklahoma, Fox Sports Net Prime Ticket

Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1)

Enemy Blog(s): Clips Nation, ClipperBlog

Backstory: We're almost an eighth of the way there, and things are looking good!

Since we've last seen the Clippers, they've lost to Toronto in an embarrassing fashion. Now they're on a 3 game losing streak, and seeing how badly they've played lately, I really , really doubt the Thunder have much of a chance of losing this one. Nobody has come back from injury, Russell Westbrook (our worst performer of last time) has beaten Tony Parker in a fierce battle, and it's in our house this time.

Below: Matchups, Prediction

Matchups:

Center: Nenad Krstic vs. Chris Kaman

Last time, Chris Kaman had a better game overall than Krstic, but he was much less efficient. I mean, 9-26 shooting is pretty unacceptable for a center by my standards. I'll say that the same goes for this game, with Kaman scoring more points and grabbing more rebounds, but with Nenad Krstic doing less with less minutes and less opportunities.

Power Forward: Jeff Green vs. Marcus Camby

This will be a defensive battle, for sure. Last game, neither of them was able to score on a consistent basis, and Camby won the battle of the intangibles. If Green wants to win this game, he's going to have to get a 3 point shot going.

Small Forward: Kevin Durant vs. Al Thornton

Al Thornton is probably the most efficient Clippers player, but I doubt he'll have a better performance than Kevin Durant. Expect him to get roughly half of KDs numbers.

Shooting Guard: Thabo Sefolosha vs. Rasual Butler

Thabo Sefolosha had a horrible night last time, but at least Rasual Butler was able to rebound the ball for his team. I'd like to think that Sefolosha will do better this time, but there's no big scoring threat for him to stop, so I think we might even be better off starting James Harden at this point. Rasual Butler will outperform him by a bit.

Point Guard: Russell Westbrook vs. Baron Davis

This is the matchup I want to see again. Last time, Westbrook got injured, and Baron Davis outperformed him in every single way. But, Russell Westbrook had a great game against Tony Parker, doesn't seem any worse for the wear, and probably wants to show his stuff against this Clipper team. I'll give Baron Davis the win, but I still truly hope that Westbrook can rebound from his bad performance last time.

Battle of the Benches

Last time, the only players who mattered on the bench were James Harden and Kevin Ollie. I wouldn't expect that to change for us, as Collison and Thomas aren't huge game changers, but I'd expect more out of Craig Smith and Sebastian Telfair on the Clippers side of things. Smith is a nice inside scorer and rebounder, while Telfair can distribute just as well as Baron Davis can.

Coaching and Intangibles

The Thunder are on a two game winning streak, have beaten this team before at home, and are at home themselves. The Clippers are without two of their best players, on the road, have lost 3 straight, and have only beaten the lowly Timberwolves, Warriors, and Grizzlies. I'd say the intangibles are in our favor.

Bottom Line

If the Thunder can get solid production from the guards, make sure that guys like Chris Kaman, Marcus Camby, and Craig Smith don't have productive games inside, and drop a few threes, then they can win this game. It may sound like a lot, but it's no herculean task. Again, these are the Clippers we're talking about.

Prediction: Thunder 95, Clippers 90

6-4? Like Kevin Garnett, anything is possible!

How do you think the game will go? Vote in the Poll!

And, again, feel free to drop any comments you might have during, before, or after the game below. I'll be in the Ford Center cheering the team on, but I'll be back to write a recap later tonight. Go Thunder!

Poll

Who's going to win tonight?

The Oklahoma City Thunder

16 votes

The Los Angeles Clippers

10 votes

26 votes | Poll has closed

3 In The Key - Toronto Raptors Game Day Preview vs. Clippers

RaptorsHQ - Howland — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:00:31 -0000

by Gus Ruelas - AP

Even without Blake Griffin the Clippers have a pretty solid front-court. (AP Photo/Gus Ruelas)

View full size photo »

After grabbing a win at home the Toronto Raptors have once again packed their bags and they are off to the West Coast for another road trip. Up first? LA's other team...the Clippers.

Could the Raps make it two in a row in this late night match-up?

Here is what I know about the Los Angeles Clippers.

The have a good team (on paper).
They have to love the fact that Elton Brand decided to skip town and end up with the 76ers.
They have to be somewhat disappointed with the play of Baron Davis.
They must be chomping at the bit waiting for Blake Griffin to hit the court.
They have one of the worst owners (Donald Sterling) in all of sport and I can't help but wonder if he and Al Davis are not the same person.
Mike Dunleavy is a horrible coach and this team looks like it is in complete disarray on both ends of the court.
Their three wins this season have come against Minnesota, Golden State and Memphis.
As much as the Raptors frustrate me sometimes, I am grateful that I am not a Clippers fan.

For those living in the Eastern Time Zone I don't think there is a worse opponent for the Raps to have with a 10:30 pm start time on a Friday night. Just a hunch, but I think viewer numbers are going to be down for this game.

Nevertheless, this is an important game. Given their upcoming schedule against some of the elite teams in the league this is a great opportunity for the Raptors to build of the second half of the Bulls game and secure back to back wins for the third time this season. I have said this before, if the Raps can get some momentum early on this season it is going to go a long way down the stretch.

Despite all my points above I don't think this Clippers team is simply going to hand the game over to the Raps as an early Christmas present. We all know that the Raps have a propensity to let the opposition score at will and this Clippers team with the likes of Baron Davis, Chris Kaman and Al Thornton can, if given the opportunity, fill it up.

Speaking of Chris Kaman, he alongside Marcus Camby, makes for an interesting match-up against the Raps two-headed monster in Andrea Bagnani and Chris Bosh.

After the win against Chicago there was a lot of talk on the site about Andrea Bargnani and Chris Bosh and which player is the most challenged on the defensive end of the court. It sparked quite the debate.

Well, now it's really time to evaluate and the NBA's schedule makers have provided a number of opponents, Clippers included, who will really help resolve the debate.

Kaman is an excellent back to the basket player and a very good rebounder. Camby, over the course of his career, has been a great paint presence with shot-blocking ability and a terrific nose for the ball. It's going to be a test for the Raptors bigs no doubt about it. Let's see how Raps defend these two bigs and see who, if anyone can step up their defensive game. Bosh? Bargnani? Or will Triano be forced to look at Amir Johnson to help provide the required resistance.

The match-up between the big men is really what I will be watching but here are three other keys to tonight's game:

1. Perimeter Defense: For those who have not seen a Clippers game this season, if it wasn't for the nasty beard, you probably wouldn't recognize Baron Davis. He has really taken care of his body and is much more fit and slim this season. He is looking more agile on the court and although his shooting percentages still leave much to be desired, he has a little pep in his step. He will undoubtedly be looking forward to his match-up against Jose Calderon in hopes of using his quickness to attack the paint. Al Thorton is another Clipper who loves to attack the rim.

If the Raptors defenders can't stay in front of the Clippers guards and small forwards it could make for a long night. It will also make it more difficult on Bosh and Bargnani to defend their respective match-ups. For all the talk about the lack of defense being shown by the Raptors bigs, it is all a rather moot point if they are not getting help from their teammates.

2. Shooting Contest: These Clippers have no hesitation when it comes to shooting the rock. Given the lack of game plan on the offensive end I am sure you will all make note of each of their player's willingness to jack it up at every opportunity. They also like to shoot the three ball, much like the Raps.

If we learned anything from the Bulls game it is that the Raptors have a better chance at succeeding when they focus on getting the ball inside and then looking for the three. As Franchise pointed out the Raps took 16 three's in the first half of the Bulls game and were down. When they finally started to get aggressive on offense in the second half it helped turn things around. In my opinion the Raps simply take too many three's. Against a team like the Clipper's it would be natural to get into a three ball contest but the recipe for success is a heavy dosage of Bosh and Bargs in the paint either drawing the foul, making a hoop from close range or drawing the double team and then, and only then kicking it out for the three ball.

3. Play Above Your Opponent: As mentioned from the top this Clippers team is good on paper but the results simply are not there. The Raps cannot play down to their opponent tonight. A loss here could set a bad tone for the next week. As someone mentioned on the site yesterday the Raps are treading water around the .500 level right now which is respectable given the early schedule of games. It would be nice to see that trend continue.

One player we won't see dressed for the Raptors in tonight's game, or any other game going forward for that matter is Quincy Douby. Douby, despite his respectable summer league performance in Vegas was really the forgotten man on this Raptors roster and yesterday was released. Douby is yet to live up to his billing when he was selected in the first round by the Sacramento Kings and I question whether he gets another chance at making an NBA roster. Unfortunately he becomes another member of a long list of forgettable Raptors.

We, of course, are going no-where and will be here live-blogging the game into the wee hours of the morning so join in the conversation!