Clippers to play at Oklahoma City on Wednesday

Looking ahead

Clippers at Oklahoma City, Wednesday, 4:30 p.m. PST

These are two young powerhouses in the West. The Thunder’s expected return trip to the Finals seemed to hit a detour when they unloaded James Harden, the sixth man of the year, to Houston. But his replacement Kevin Martin can find the net, Serge Ibaka is developing a jump shot and Kevin Durant is hitting the boards better than ever. The Clippers, already with All-Stars Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, loaded up their reserves in the off-season, including former sixth man of the year Jamal Crawford, who can outscore an opponent’s entire bench. The Clippers took three of four games from Oklahoma City last season.

—Barry Stavro