Clippers lose close one to Golden State
Listen to this articlePhoto above: Point guard Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors in pre-game warmups
As the crowds gathered at Staples Center in Downtown L.A. for the Clippers last home game before their trip to Portland to meet the Trailblazers, things were looking really good for the Golden State Warriors. They have clinched the NBA Western Conference title and top seed in the West. Nothing any other team does between now and the end of the season will change Golden State’s position.
So it would seem there is nothing left for the Warriors to do this season — except continue to dominate all their rivals and carry that momentum into the Playoffs.
For the L.A Clippers, they were in second place behind the Warriors in the Pacific Division and second place in the Western Conference standings. They had already clinched a spot in the Playoffs before Tuesday’s game, so all that was left was home court advantage. That could be a big difference in those first two rounds, if they don’t face Golden State.
Before last night’s game, the Memphis Grizzlies and Houston Rockets were less than two games ahead of the Clippers in the Western standings, so L.A. needed a win to move up and past those two teams to secure that home court. With only eight games left in the season, the game in Staples against the best team in the NBA was a must-win situation. Not to mention, the rivalry that has developed between Golden State and the L.A. Clippers has just gotten hotter with every game they have played. Last night they turned up the heat.
It was an ugly game between two teams that started the night coming off long winning streaks. The Warriors had won nine in a row and the Clippers seven.
L.A. gave its hometown crowd much to cheer about in the first quarter. Blake Griffin led his team with 18 points to get the game started and they ended the first 12 minutes with a 12-point lead over Golden State.
Steph Curry carried the Warriors on his back in the second quarter, leading his team in a 19-point run that left them trailing at the half, but only by seven points. At one point he tied up Chris Paul with such a quick move, the L.A. All Star fell to the floor. The Warriors bench went crazy behind their point guard.
But when play started after the half, L.A. dominated most of the third quarter. But Golden State, led by Curry and Klay Thompson, stayed close, never letting the game get out of control. The two scored 19 points in the third, but the Clippers came back with a 17-10 run, led by Chris Paul who added eight of those points.
It was the fourth quarter when the game got extremely intense. It started with the Clippers leading by six, 88 to 82, but Golden State wore them down. L.A. got tired and stopped playing defense, which took away much of their offense.
One thing about the Clippers game is that they get out to these big leads in the first half, but sometimes they don’t have enough energy to close out games against the best teams, like Golden State. And the Warriors took advantage of that tendency. They took their time to eventually take the lead, draining the energy from the Clippers as they played.
This seems to be a strategy for Golden State. They let teams like the Clippers and the Memphis Grizzlies burn a lot of energy in the first three quarters of the game getting big leads, but then in the fourth quarter they take over the game and eventually win.
So it’s no surprise Golden State has won ten in a row and is 10.5 games ahead of the Memphis Grizzlies, the number two team in the West.
The Clippers are going to have to find a way to beat the Warriors if they want to get to the NBA Finals. The Warriors have home court advantage throughout the playoffs and they most likely will have it in the Finals, if they go that far.
In Tuesday’s game there had been some great play by Blake Griffin who scored 40 points, Chris Paul who added 27 points and nine assists and DeAndre Jordan with 15 rebounds. But their bench needs to step up and add some depth to the team. In Tuesday’s game the Golden State bench out scored L.A.’s by 22 points. That’s probably the biggest part missing from the Clippers game. It’s something they have struggled with all season. Plus, Jamal Crawford is still out. When he comes back L.A.’s offense will get a big boost.
The Warriors won Tuesday, 110 to 106. Steph Curry had 27 points and Klay Thompson had 25.
It was interesting that in the post-game press conference Blake Griffin said they really didn’t have home court advantage. He was referring to so many in the crowd cheering for Golden State and Steph Curry in particular. He just might be the NBA MVP for this season, but it was just disappointing to the Clippers to hear so many fans in their house, the Staples Center, leading that cheer.
The first time the Clippers raise a championship banner at Staples that might change.
(All photos by Claudia Gestro)
Claudia is of Peruvian and Italian descent, having been born in a small town, in the North of Peru, South America. She was raised by her grandmother from an early age, living in poverty until Claudia’s mother brought her to America. She landed in Miami, FL and started her new life, playing high school basketball and eventually becoming a United States citizen. Claudia completed her education at Florida International University with a BA in Broadcast Journalism and became a model to supplement her income. Since graduating from FIU Claudia has worked with many of the Spanish Language broadcasting companies, including Telemundo, Univision and most recently Spanish Language channels on SiriusXM satellite radio and PasTV Deportes in Venezuela.She encourages you to follow her on Twitter and Facebook. Her content appears here under a shared content agreement with her Spanish television clients.