Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook were simply too much for the Los Angeles Clippers and they led the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 112-101 victory and a split at home.
Clippers vs. Thunder results, 2014 NBA playoffs: Westbrook, Durant go off in big OKC win
The series is tied, 1-1, after Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant both nearly get triple-doubles.
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Westbrook got his third triple-double of the postseason -- although his 10th assist of the game was a horrendous bit of home-friendly scorekeeping -- and he and Durant finished with a combined 63 points, 22 rebounds and 19 assists.
Durant, playing for the first time after the trophy presentation for his first MVP award, absolutely exploded out of the gates, hitting six of his first seven shots. He finished with 17 points in the quarter before cooling down in the second and finishing with 21 points in the first half.
On the other side, J.J. Redick and Glen Davis -- because it's the 2014 NBA Playoffs and nothing makes sense anymore -- were the key to the Clippers staying within striking distance of Durant and Westbrook in the first half. Davis had 8 points and 5 rebounds in the half while Redick was flying all over the court, as he is wont to do, and scored 16 first-half points to lead the Clippers.
The second half is when the game turned into The Russell Westbrook Show. Westbrook was great in the first half, but in the third quarter, he was downright electric. He dominated both ends of the floor and charged up an already rabid Oklahoma City crowd with his typical intensity. At the end of the third quarter, he had 25 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals and the Thunder led the Clippers by 17 points. He also did this:
Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan were non-factors and Jamal Crawford was downright horrible offensively to pair with his typically horrible defense, and the Clippers simply couldn't compete with those parts of the equation. Jordan didn't block any shots and took only four, while Griffin had just 15 points and 6 rebounds and never asserted himself. On the bright side, Chris Paul finished with 17 points and 11 assists, plus three steals.
Game 3 is Friday night at 10:30 ET at Staples Center. Both of these games have been blowouts -- the margin in this one was more than 20 points in the fourth quarter before the Clippers’ scrubs brought the margin to six -- but they’ve been thrilling to watch. Hopefully, this series will finally give us a thrilling, close game we’ll remember for a long time.
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