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Clippers know return home won’t make series with Thunder any easier

Clippers center DeAndre Jordan, right, tries to get a loose ball away from Thunder center Kendrick Perkins (5) and forward Kevin Durant (35).
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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The Clippers return home from Oklahoma City having snatched the home-court advantage away from the Thunder.

But don’t think for one moment that they feel the best-of-seven Western Conference series is going to be easy just because they are playing the next two games in Los Angeles.

The Clippers lost Game 2 on Wednesday night after getting a win in Game 1 on Monday.

The action now moves to Staples Center, with Game 3 set for Friday night and Game 4 on Sunday afternoon.

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On Wednesday, Oklahoma City responded to the opening loss by unleashing Kevin Durant, who had 32 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists on the night he was handed his NBA most valuable player award in front of the hometown fans.

The Thunder also saw Russell Westbrook produce a triple-double of 31 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

“This is going to be a hard series,” Clippers Coach Doc Rivers said Wednesday. “They have an MVP on their team now. And Westbrook, he gets criticized a lot. I don’t know why. The dude plays hard. He’s tough. And you saw that tonight.

“We have a lot of capable players on our team. It’s going to be a good series.”

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