The Warriors fell behind early and never recovered in Tuesday’s 130-95 loss to the Clippers in Los Angeles.
GAME LEADERS
The Warriors fell behind early and never recovered in Tuesday’s 130-95 loss to the Clippers in Los Angeles. The Dubs struggled on both ends of the floor and faced a double-digit deficit over the final 37 minutes of the game.
Aside from a nice spurt from Klay Thompson to start the second half, the Warriors had few stretches of solid play in this, their second straight preseason defeat. Thompson made his first four shots in the period and had 15 of his 21 points in the third quarter. Ian Clark added 11 points off the bench and Shaun Livingston added 10 points on 5-for-7 shooting in a starting assignment.
With Stephen Curry (rest), Andre Iguodala (rest) and Andrew Bogut (broken nose) all sitting the game out, the Warriors struggled to find any consistent rhythm, and it showed in the overall flow of the game. There were a combined eight technical fouls, 66 regular fouls and 87 free throws attempted, and the game was controlled by the Clippers from seemingly the opening tip.
Blake Griffin had 29 points in 25 minutes to lead the Clippers, who shot 55 percent from the field. Griffin’s dominance helped Los Angeles get out to an 11-point lead at the end of the first quarter, and the rout was on from there.
Following the Tuesday night defeat, the Warriors will stay in Southern California for their preseason finale on Thursday against the Lakers, and then it will be time to gear up for the real thing, as Opening Night at Oracle Arena is set for Tuesday, October 27, against the New Orleans Pelicans.