NBA | Oklahoma City debut is spoiled by Thunder loss

OKLAHOMA CITY — Teammate Al Thornton calls Mike Taylor the "one-man press." The Oklahoma City Thunder and its first hometown crowd learned why in a painful way.

Taylor set up the go-ahead basket with a steal and then sent home an emphatic right-handed jam in the final minute as the Los Angeles Clippers ruined the Thunder's only exhibition home game with a 90-88 victory Tuesday night.

The Sonics moved from Seattle to Oklahoma City after the 2007-08 season and the team name was changed to Thunder. A crowd of 16,410 watched the game at Ford Center, which seats 19,675.

Taylor picked rookie Russell Westbrook's pocket and missed a fast-break layup, but Ricky Davis was there with the put-back to give the Clippers (2-0) an 84-83 lead with 49.9 seconds remaining.

Taylor followed two missed free throws by ex-UCLA standout Westbrook by driving past him down the lane for a dunk with 31.4 seconds left and kept the lead at three points by matching two free throws by Kevin Durant of the Thunder with two of his own.

Thornton led the Clippers with 23 points.

Durant, last season's league rookie of the year, paced the Thunder (1-4) with 18 points but missed a potential tying three-pointer with nine seconds left. Westbrook and Earl Watson each scored 14, Johan Petro had 12 points and 15 rebounds, and Desmond Mason and Nick Collison each added 10 points.

Collison (ankle) and forward Chris Wilcox (shin) both left the game for Oklahoma City, which already had six other players out with injuries.

Notes

• The Philadelphia 76ers spoiled Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni's first exhibition home game at Madison Square Garden by beating New York 116-109. D'Antoni used to coach Phoenix.

Reserve guard Nate Robinson, a former standout for the Washington Huskies and Rainier Beach High School in Seattle, scored 21 points for the Knicks.

Andre Miller scored 22 points for the Sixers.

• Minnesota point guard Sebastian Telfair was suspended for three games after pleading guilty to criminal possession of a weapon.

Telfair, 23, was sentenced last month to three years' probation. He was arrested in April 2007 when police found him carrying a loaded gun in his car while he was a Boston Celtic.

The Celtics traded him to Minnesota in the deal for Kevin Garnett, and Telfair had a solid and incident-free first season in Minnesota. He is the top backup to starter Randy Foye.

• Bruce Ratner's $4 billion dream for a new Brooklyn will have to wait, at least until next year.

The New Jersey Nets owner and developer has been plagued by a string of problems that have delayed his plans for a new arena, office towers and thousands of apartments in Brooklyn.

Ratner said a recent court ruling would delay the project by up to six months, meaning the Nets won't move in until least 2011.