The Golden State Warriors won the top game of the Western Conference at the LA Clippers, which was not very attractive for long periods, with 105: 90 and further underpinned first place in the league. While the Clippers made life difficult for themselves with an incredible number of ball losses, Steph Curry, who was getting stronger and stronger, received a little more support than his counterpart Paul George.
L.A. Clippers (11-9) – Golden State Warriors (18-2) 90:105 (BOXSCORE)
Curry finished the game – the seventh win in the eighth away game for Golden State – with 33 points, 6 assists, 6 steals and 5 rebounds. He sank 7 of his 13 threes (12/22 FG), some of which were decisive in the fourth quarter, when the Warriors finally pulled away. With reservist Otto Porter Jr. (18 points, 10 rebounds) as well as Jordan Poole (17, 4/9 3FG) and Andrew Wiggins (12, 4/12 FG) there were three more warriors in double digits, the three hit the guests clearly better than the Clippers (17/40, 41.0 percent).
In addition to the three-way quota (32.1 percent, 9/28), the home side lost the game primarily due to 24 turnovers (GSW: 16). This used Golden State to 31 points. So also 30 counters (11/24 FG) from George didn’t help, who at least was able to put his stamp on the game in phases. He also had 5 assists against 8 turnover. He never had more in his career. In addition to PG-13, Eric Bledsoe and Marcus Morris Sr. were the best point collectors with 13 points each.
With the Clippers and Warriors, the two best defensive teams of the season so far met, Golden State had allowed the worst throw rate for their opponents in the course of the season so far. This was shown at a very early local time in the direct encounter, in which the two teams relied on the tried and tested staff.
LA opened with a George layup in transition, Curry immediately hit back with a three-point from the corner. As a result, however, the Clippers made the better impression for large parts of the first quarter. Among other things, Bledsoe cleared Poole from. With 9 points in the first twelve minutes, Morris in particular stood out positively. During this period the Clippers had already forced 6 turnovers. Since they threw the ball away six times, the lead was only 4 points despite the perceived dominance (17:10 on the boards): 24:20 Clippers. The Warriors hadn’t sunk a single one of their 3 free throws. Apart from curry, nothing worked with the starters.
Curry is getting hot – clippers with way too many mistakes
Afterwards things went a little better at Golden State, but beautiful basketball was searched in vain on both sides. The game was characterized by many free throws and ball losses. Wiggins equalized the game after a long time (27:27), Curry briefly took the lead. While George was not yet lucky enough to litter, Ivica Zubac (8 and 8) was busy collecting offensive rebounds. The game was completely open, 44:42 Warriors at break. In view of 12 ball losses and 34.1 percent from the field (53.3 offensive rating!) LA could live very well with this result.
In the second half, the Clippers started – surprisingly – with a bad pass and a step error. George joined in, Head Coach Tyronn Lue quickly took a break. A behind-to-back pass from Curry to Draymond Green (8 points, 7 assists) gave the guests the first 6-point lead, he followed up with a three and a layup (55:44). The Clippers offense was a complete disaster (16 TO, 15 FGM). But for the modest level of the game, the fact that the home team had almost equalized the deficit in a few minutes spoke for the game.
A distance throw from Bledsoe ended a 10-1 run before Hartenstein checked into the game for the first time. After no foul whistle against the German, Green picked up a technical, only seconds later Harteinstein saw the T, when he celebrated a block against Poole too much. This turned up, however, 3 threes in a short time provided the Warriors with a little cushion, but George thawed more and more. However, since Poole (15 points in Q3) hit another throw from distance with the board, Golden State took a 75-68 lead into the final section.
Turnover remained a huge problem for the Clippers, after a foul on Curry the superstar lost his nerve for a moment and also received a technical. The momentum still belonged to his team. Porter Jr. and Juan Toscano-Anderson increased to +14. In this phase at the latest, the clippers completely lost touch. Curry, pissed off at the line of the referees at times, was pissed off, suddenly on fire and welded three difficult threes in a row. At 77:95, LA couldn’t find an answer. Wiggins made another successful throw from distance. The benches were emptied, 105: 90 it was at the end from the perspective of the winner.
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