With the game tied at 104 with less than four minutes left, the lead changed hands five times before the L.A. Clippers’ 19-point comeback bid fell just short to the Golden State Warriors, 115-113 Thursday at the Chase Center. Stephen Curry dominated the opening and closing moments of this one, collecting 45 points (16-25 FG, 8-13 3PT, 5-5 FT) and 10 rebounds. Paul George led the charge for L.A. with 29 points (12-23 FG, 5-11 3PT), 11 rebounds and six assists. In his second Clipper debut, Eric Bledsoe emerged as the second most impactful player on the floor for LAC with 22 points (10-16 FG, 1-4 3PT), three boards, two assists, three steals and a block. Read on for our full Clippers vs. Warriors game recap.
Summary
As hinted at in the preview for tonight’s game, the Clippers weren’t exactly heading into tonight’s game in a steady rhythm, nor did they have the optimal personnel to check Stephen Curry. By way of the “scary” ball movement both Tyronn Lue and Paul George mentioned LAC needed to be weary of heading into tip-off, the Warriors had 10 assists in the opening frame. Andrew Wiggins got it started for Golden State, going flawless on three wide open threes. After Eric Bledsoe picked up two quiet fouls about five minutes in, No. 30 began to percolate to the tune of 25 points (9-9 FG, 5-5 3PT, 2-2 FT) in the period’s entire 12 minutes. Ultimately, letting Curry get loose like that usually spells doom and ruins a team’s confidence for the rest of the night. After one, the Warriors led 44-27.
While the first quarter was the Wiggins and Curry show, however, the second belonged to Bledsoe and Paul George. With Curry on the bench, PG opened up the second nailing a triple. Minutes later, Steve Kerr took a timeout and came back with a small ball unit with Iggy at the five, while Tyronn lue brought Ivica Zubac back in. As touched on over the offseason, a lot of the weaknesses that expose Zubac on the defensive end tend to be out of his control due to small ball. That was showcased for a stretch here. From Jordan Poole to Andre Iguodala and Otto Porter Jr., there were too many free dunks given up off of the ramped up pace. Lue soon subbed out Zu nearly midway through the quarter, and with Marcus Morris Sr. in at center, the game slowed swayed back the Clippers’ way. Credit for fueling the initial rally goes to Bledsoe, who had some tough layups and downright absurd steals. Soon enough, PG got hot, and the Clippers rode a 25-5 run to spoil the Chase Center mood and take a 67-66 advantage back to the locker room.
A quarter in which the Clippers just edged out the Warriors 26-24, the key for LAC in the third was forcing turnovers and continuing to keep them off of the three-point line. From deep, Golden State went 9-for 13 in the first, 1-for-5 in the second and just 1 of 7 here. With Curry’s rhythm disrupted due the Warrior turnovers mounting, the rest of the Clipper offense began to come alive. PG only had four points in this frame as he and the rest of the Clippers struggled to get a whistle their way. Fortunately for L.A., however, Terance Mann and Luke Kennard combined for three triples while Reggie Jackson finally willed his first bucket of the season to go in after eight previous tries. Seemingly breaking the seal entirely with a loud trey soon after, Jackson and the Clippers led 93-90 heading to the fourth.
The high point of the final frame for L.A. came at the 10:36 mark in which Kennard hit a cutting Justise Winslow to extend the Clipper lead 98-90. With an 11-0 LAC run at that point, and both PG and Curry on the bench, the game was firmly in the Clippers’ hands. Over the next five minutes and change, however, and even with George and Morris Sr. back in the game, LAC missed 10 straight field goals as the Warriors went on a 12-0 run to hit Lawler’s Law first and take a 102-98 lead with 5:06 to go. At that point, all bets were off. Both team exchanged some big shots, but on behalf of some botched LAC plays right before and out of timeouts, the game ended up being decided by Curry nailing some patented 27+ footers.
Clippers vs. Warriors Game Notes
- MVPG: The response from Paul George in the second quarter was exactly what you wanted to see out of him in game one of 82, especially at the start of this particular season. PG ending up with 11 3-point attempts is exactly the type of stuff the Clippers are going to need from him for the foreseeable future, and it was painful to see an aggressive player of his caliber simply somehow unable to buy a whistle all night.
- The BledShow: While the first quarter immediately made just about every Clipper fan think about a particular player who used to wear No. 21 for the squad, Eric Bledsoe really stepped it up the rest of the way. The athleticism was there, the defense was there, and although the 1-for-4 shooting from deep hurt, it’s truly looking like his downhill ability is something the team has sorely needed.
- Building Blocks: After an unreal postseason showing, Reggie Jackson came back to life a bit tonight, going 4-for-19 from the field (3-9 3PT) in a 39:17 of action. However, with the rest of the team looking for him to keep getting shots up throughout the game, and him still having five rebounds and six assists, it’s clear that Big Government going to play a big role for the Clips this season. Looking a bit limited on both ends to some extent, Marcus Morris Sr. was about as expected given that these were his first in-game minutes since the playoffs. Terance Mann played a game-high 39:24 minutes off of the Clipper bench and was +9.4 in Net Rating on the floor with George. Nicolas Batum’s absence was definitely felt tonight. Amir Coffey played about par for the course after getting the nod over Isaiah Hartenstein and Brandon Boston Jr. in the 9-man Clipper rotation.
- Up Next: The Clippers will return to Los Angeles for their home opener against the Memphis Grizzlies at Staples Center on Saturday, Oct. 23 at 7:30 p.m. PT.
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