Los Angeles Clippers Lose Home Court Advantage After Disappointing Game 3 Loss | 118-112.
We’re not sure if Oklahoma City Thunder were still riding the wave of Kevin Durant’s emotional MVP speech on Wednesday afternoon, but the team came into Staples Center with their most serious game plan this post-season to date. The Clippers had an impressive outing during game 1 where Chris Paul hit 9 from deep leading to their opening 2nd-round blowout victory.
Much like game 2, tonight saw Los Angeles going extremely cold from three, shooting 7-26 (29%) for game 3. While we expected the shots not have a repeat of game 1, we didn’t envision the Clippers having a consecutive a cold streak. Prior to tipped off, Jamal Crawford was introduced as league’s 6th man of the year. Los Angeles had all smiles before the game, but Crawford had another horrendous night shooting 1-5 from deep (6-18) with 20 points.
Hit the jump for video highlights and more on the Thunders game 3 victory.
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He was third in scoring behind Chris Paul with 21 and Blake Griffin for a team high of 34 points. Throughout the first half, both teams played the back-and-forth game, which saw 14 lead changes and 7 ties. Chris Paul would hit an extremely long-range 3-pointer to give his team a 2 point lead at 62-60 for the half. In the third quarter, Blake Griffin would be bloodied hitting Serge Ibaka’s elbow with his nose and would have to leave the game for a possession. In the series, Griffin has still been scoring an impressive amount of buckets, but when facing Ibaka one-on-one, he’s been limited in comparison against others.
The story of this game was Thunder’s huge bench support from both Caron Butler and Reggie Jackson with 14 points each. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook would hit back-to-back shots to put the game away, showing experience together in comparison to the Clippers team of new faces. Durant would lead all scorers with 36 points, totaling his 30-point career games to 7 this post-season (most in the league). The Clippers face a must-win situation on Sunday afternoon to avoid a 3-1 hole losing consecutive games at home. We’re expecting Los Angeles to improve their shooting in game 4, but a loss could have Kevin Durant’s Mother’s Day MVP tribute inching Oklahoma City closer to a return back to the conference finals.