Tonight at 9:30 p.m. ET the Oklahoma City Thunder and newly crowned MVP Kevin Durant will try to shake off a shocking loss in Game 1 in which they surrendered 122 points to the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 2 of their Western Conference semifinal series. Live stream the action free by clicking this link; Thunder fans can find the radio broadcast on WWLS 98.1, while Clippers fans can do the same on KFWB 980.
Chris Paul put to rest any question whether he could withstand the physicality and energy of his Thunder counterpart Russell Westbrook in Game 1 by unleashing a 32-point performance that included an 8-of-8 stretch from 3-point range. Moving forward though, Paul made no guarantees of more scoring outbursts.
"The next game, I might have 12 points, 10 points, maybe not even that many," Paul said Tuesday. "I think I'm one of those people -- whatever it takes to win. I don't care. I'm never going to lead the league in scoring or anything like that. It's just whatever to try to win."
His outburst was alarming, but on the whole Oklahoma City's defense wasn't even a speed bump for L.A.'s red-hot offense. "When he's [Paul] hitting 3s like that, it's tough," Thunder forward Nick Collison said. "We can definitely make it more difficult on him than we did (Monday). I think that's where our focus is going to be, is how can we defend better?"
Defense will be key-despite an 18-of-33 combined performance from the field for Durant and Westbrook, who totaled 54 points, they couldn't sniff the lead with the Clippers clicking.
"It wasn't like I was making unbelievable shots, it was because the court was open," Paul said. "When I had two defenders I gave it to Blake, and that's what put so much pressure on the defense because BG (Griffin) is such a great passer."
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