Whilst Stephen Curry dazzled along with his sharpshooting through the third quarter, the Los Angeles Clippers, led by Kawhi Leonard, remained calm and unrelenting.
They might climate Curry’s finest punches, stored their lead, after which pulled away from the Golden State Warriors within the fourth quarter.
Leonard continued his scorching play with 30 factors, Paul George had 24, and the Clippers overcame Curry’s 50-point night time to beat the Warriors 134-126 on Wednesday night time.
“You realize they will make massive runs, however we stored our composure, stayed regular, and executed on the offensive finish,” stated Leonard, who had his fourth 30-point effort within the final eight video games. He was 10 of 19 from the sphere and had eight rebounds and 5 assists.
The Clippers (37-33) have gained 4 straight to enter fifth place within the Western Convention. The defending NBA champion Warriors (36-34) are a sport again because the groups cut up the four-game season collection.
“We didn’t get stagnant. We executed our pictures,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue stated. “When a man like that (Curry) explodes, we stayed with the sport plan. I assumed our offense carried us.”
Curry tied a season-high in factors with the twelfth 50-point sport of his profession. He was 20 of 28 and made eight 3-pointers.
“It’s good to play and shoot effectively. It’s what I anticipate to do each night time,” Curry stated. “It doesn’t matter what the stat sheet appears like after the sport, it’s irritating when you possibly can’t recover from the hump and determine a solution to win.”
Jordan Poole added 19 factors for the Warriors. They’ve misplaced 9 straight highway video games.
Curry had 21 factors within the third quarter and hit three 3-pointers. He was 9 of 11 and had one stretch the place he hit 5 straight pictures. Regardless of that, the Clippers had a 99-93 lead going into the ultimate 12 minutes.
Los Angeles had a three-point benefit early within the fourth earlier than it went on a 10-1 run to tug away. Batum’s 3-pointer with 9:07 remaining put the Clippers up 109-97.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr stated one of many greatest keys within the sport was the Clippers grabbing 16 offensive rebounds and having a 27-11 benefit in second-chance factors.
“With how our roster is correct now, we’re susceptible on the glass,” Kerr stated. “I assumed the Clippers performed an important sport. Steph was elegant. It was unimaginable to observe him play tonight. It was an important, nice sport. We simply got here up quick.”
Key run
The Clippers trailed 70-66 three minutes into the third quarter, then scored 14 straight factors to take a double-digit lead. Eric Gordon, who had 14 factors within the quarter, scored the final eight through the run.
The Warriors countered with a 16-8 rally, together with 12 by Curry, to get inside a basket, however Leonard hit a 3-pointer on the subsequent journey down the ground to finish the run.
Not so candy 16
Draymond Inexperienced acquired his sixteenth technical foul of the season with 40.8 seconds remaining when he threw the ball off Russell Westbrook’s face following a Clippers’ layup.
Gamers obtain one-game suspensions as soon as they attain 16 in a season after which are suspended a sport for every of two extra technical fouls.
Inexperienced had eight factors earlier than he fouled out and is tied with Memphis’ Dillon Brooks for essentially the most technicals within the NBA.
Inexperienced was optimistic that he may keep away from attending Friday night time’s sport at Atlanta.
“I anticipate some modifications. I acquired one technical this 12 months as a result of a ref yelled at me,” he stated. “I stated, ‘If I yell at you, I’ll get fined.’ And I acquired a tech for it. So I believe one thing will change.”
Ejected
On the subsequent journey down the ground, Marcus Morris Sr. acquired a Flagrant-2 foul and was ejected with 31 seconds remaining within the first half.
Morris and Inexperienced have been vying within the paint for place whereas Curry was attempting a 3-pointer when it appeared Morris hit Inexperienced within the face.
Referee Kevin Scott stated on the ESPN broadcast: “All of the elements (for a Flagrant 2) have been met: Wind-up, impression, follow-through above the shoulders, excessive potential for damage, and a non-basketball play.”