The Thunder can't approach the rest of the season as an exercise in futility. Sure, the playoffs aren't in the immediate future and the team remains on pace to finish with the worst record in NBA history.
Interim coach Scott Brooks still has a job to do, and it mostly centers on continuing to develop the Kevin Durant-Jeff Green-Russell Westbrook core and bring sense of stability to team. "You can't lose the fact that when you're losing (that) there are still lessons to be learned," Brooks said. "It's not easy. I'm not going to sit up here and say I'm glad I'm going through this, because I'm not.
"But in the long run, we're going to look back at this and understand what it takes to get out of stuff like this."
Even contenders, at one time or another, had their ruts.
"I tell the guys this is not the first team that had a bad start," Brooks said. "I'm not the first coach that had a bad start. It's been done before. It doesn't last forever."
CLIPPERS 98, THUNDER 88: Kevin Durant scored 25, but the rest of the starting lineup managed just 25 as Oklahoma City lost for the 11th consecutive time at home Tuesday night to extend the franchise record.
Clippers forward Zach Randolph had 22 points and 13 rebounds for his fourth straight double-double, and Eric Gordon led a 10-point run in the fourth quarter to seal the win for Los Angeles.
Chris Wilcox and Desmond Mason scored 13 and 10 points, respectively, for Oklahoma City off the bench. The Thunder's record under interim coach Scott Brooks is 1-12, the same as former coach P.J. Carlesimo when he was fired.
