#SPLASH ON ‘EM!
You wouldn’t have thought so in the third quarter when the Los Angeles Clippers had a commanding 23 point lead against the Golden State Warriors, but the game got very very lit one quarter later. The Warriors were not going down without a fight and showed resilience in their 124-117 win at the STAPLES Center against their biggest rival in the Western Conference.
Chris Paul started the game on complete fire and ended with a season high 35 points, as well as 8 assists on the night, but it wasn’t enough.
Steph Curry had 40 points, including 11 rebounds and 4 assists to bring the Warriors to a record of 13-0, becoming the 4th team in NBA history to start the season this way.
And don’t think it was just the Curry show. Klay Thompson dropped 25 points on them, Harrison Barnes had 21 and Draymond Green finished with 19. It was an all-around solid effort by the team.
The 4th quarter was electrifying and went back and forth in crunch time, with both teams hitting shots from beyond the arc, but none more crucial than Andre Iguodala.
For a second it looked like the Clippers were going to pull away because they led by 10 points with five minutes remaining, but the Warriors kept crawling back. Iguodala hit some huge back-to-back 3-pointers to get them within 2 points, before Thompson hit a tough step-back shot from downtown give them the 1-point lead with two minutes remaining.
Jamal Crawford came back and hit a three to give the lead back to the Clippers but Golden State ran with it after that. A Curry three. In-bounds passes to Draymond down low that were easy buckets. Steph hitting clutch free throws down the stretch. There was no stopping the Golden State train after the fire was ignited. Clippers just had to accept defeat after giving away yet another game.
The Warriors now face the Chicago Bulls, Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Lakers next, all games they can potentially win and bring home NBA history by being the first team ever to start 16-0. The 1948-49 Washington Capitols and the 1994 Houston Rockets are the only squads to ever start the season at 15-0.
FINAL: GS 124 | LAC 117
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