Summary:
Note: Lou Williams, who was previously listed as available, did not play. Steph Curry was questionable before the game and did not play.
The Clippers came out with purpose, pushing the ball and following the lead of Paul George, who was aggressive once again. He ended the quarter with 12 of the Clippers 36 points, on 4/5 shooting (2/2 on threes). Marcus Morris, Sr. was 1/2 in the quarter, but man did that one make feel good after Sunday’s game. My favorite stat from the first frame, however, was Zubac’ six rebounds in seven minutes (including two offensive boards).
The Warriors found scoring from Marquese Chriss and Eric Paschall, after Juan Toscano-Anderson left the game with an ankle injury only 50 seconds into the game.
I should also note, for the sake of accountability, that I predicted a “packed house” at the Chase Center. Tweets from media, however, indicate that the arena was quite empty at tipoff. The City of San Francisco has been forceful in their suggestion that events over 100 people should be rescheduled or cancelled. Governor Gavin Newsom also criticized the NBA and other leagues for protecting players with social distancing measures while still allowing fans to attend games, where they are at much greater risk than players. Perhaps these factors had an influence on turnout.
In the second quarter, the Clippers slowed down the pace a bit but the scoring started to erupt. Kawhi took his turn being aggressive (he eight points in the quarter) and Morris got hot from three, hitting two in a row and drawing a four-point-play opportunity.
Interestingly, no one on the Clippers’ bench had a double-digit +/- at half. Plus-minus is obviously a tough stat to rely on in small samples, but it is notable when all of the starters were +20 or greater. The Clippers’ 76 points at the half was tied for second-most in a half this season, per Clippers PR.
The Warriors ended the quarter with fairly even scoring across the board — they just didn’t have enough of it. Andrew Wiggins had ten in the quarter and the Warriors shot 38% from three for the half, but the Clippers were just too good offensively for them to keep up.
The second half was largely garbage time. The Clippers out-scored the Warriors by 16 in the third quarter and still won by 24 despite losing the fourth by ten. The Clippers were, thankfully, able to lean on their non-rotation guys to finish out the game, playing every available player at least eight minutes.
Notes:
- Kawhi and Paul handled business: It only took 47 combined minutes between the Clippers’ big two to put the Warriors away. Together, they had 38 points on 14/27 shooting.
- 50/45/100: Those were the Clippers shooting splits tonight, which is truly insane.
- Landry had a tough night: With Lou Williams out, Landry got the bulk of the shooting guard minutes off the bench (27) but was 2/10 from the floor. He did, however, hit all five of his free throws. Hopefully he can get in a rhythm soon.
- Three point shooting: As the Clippers noted during the game, this was only the third time in franchise history that the Clips made 20 threes. Beverly was 4/5, which was great to see from him (tied for a season high). Reggie Jackson was also 3/4. If these two can hit open threes with any level of consistency, it will help Kawhi and George in the postseason as teams start to double team.