As part of extensively previewing the Clippers’ first round matchup with Pacific Division rival Golden State take a look back at some of the postgame comments made after the teams’ four regular-season matchups.
Mar. 12, 2014: Clippers 111, Warriors 98
Doc Rivers: “We have to prove to ourselves that we can win games like this. Each game like this helps. We have to learn physical composure and mental toughness and that is where we are growing. We are still growing and we are young. I got on DJ [DeAndre Jordan] for his tech. Fourth quarter techs you cannot recover from and those are the little things that we have to get away from. But we are just getting better and we needed to keep getting tested. I was looking forward to this game because I felt like some of those things would happen in this game and we came out of it.”
Blake Griffin: “I can’t really find the words. I’m proud—proud of the way we fought, proud of the way guys handled themselves. Danny [Granger], coming off the bench and giving us big minutes. Willie [Green]. Guys were fighting---Darren [Collison]. We struggled at times, missed a lot of shots, easy ones, had some stupid turnovers, errors, but guys just kept fighting, and I’m just proud of the way we played.”
Willie Green: “[The Warriors] have been a thorn in our side. I said it earlier, [they have] a real coach, and great players on their team and they come out and play hard. But you know, it was a good win. We came out, really just locked in, stayed focused and held the game.”
Mark Jackson: “We fought. We made some mistakes and things didn’t go our way, but I saw a lot of good things out there. Tough loss, and now it’s about regrouping and putting on another run. But I like the way we battled.”
David Lee: “Between these two teams, there was that kind of intensity in December when we were playing each other. Not to hype it up at all, but there is no love lost between these two teams. Both teams are teams that play hard to begin with and are very competitive. [It was a] very good four games between the two teams this regular season. Who knows what’s going to happen playoff time, if we’ll see them again, but both teams are playing very good basketball right now.”
Andrew Bogut: “The theatrics of the game, when we play the Clippers, is pretty much [like the playoffs]. The guys get frustrated at times, there’s a lot of physicality and so on.”
Jan. 30, 2014: Warriors 111, Clippers 92
Doc Rivers: “It was a tough game coming into it; we knew that. I told our coaches before last night’s game that if we can win one of these two I’d be very happy. Obviously you wanted to win them both but give them credit, they played hard and all that stuff. We just didn’t have it; we had nothing. You could just see it. They were going by us, we were late on everything defensively tonight and it’s just one of those nights.”
Matt Barnes: “From the beginning we were a step slow on the defensive end. I think that’s where all our troubles start because we’re going to be able to score offensively. We were a step slow, gave them a lot of confidence and in here you definitely can’t give a team like that confidence, and they took advantage of it.”
Mark Jackson: “I have a locker room full of those guys. They are well aware when we don’t get it done. You have to have great leaders and hold them accountable and they’ll hold each other accountable. I wasn’t concerned about tonight because we knew they were a heck of a basketball team and a challenge. As a team were upset. The Wizards almost beat the Clippers last night, but it was still a disappointing loss for us. This is how you bounce back.”
Dec. 25, 2013: Warriors 105, Clippers 103
Doc Rivers: “Honestly, I thought we were kicking their butts, and they went to something else, to be honest. But that’s fine. We have to have better composure and just keep playing. There’s no doubt about that. But I thought in the basketball part of it, we were showing them pretty well. All the other stuff worked in their favor, so it’s a smart thing for them to do. That’s fine.”
Blake Griffin: “Instead of just playing straight up and playing a game, it got into a little something more than that. It’s unfortunate because you want to play a team head to head. You don’t want to start playing other games and cowardly basketball.”
Chris Paul: “At the end of the day they were successful. They were successful in what they were trying to do. They won the game. All that “rah rah” and acting like you’re going to fight; nobody is Floyd Mayweather out here. At the end of the day it’s about basketball between the lines, and they won.”
Mark Jackson: “It was a tough hard fought game, but I still believe this isn’t a rivalry because neither one of us have done anything. It was two teams playing with an edge competing against each other. Just a hard fought game.
“It’s just physical basketball. We don’t get caught up in it. Fouls, hard fouls, rebounds and screens – just good old fashioned basketball. Two teams were playing for something. At the end of the day we know they are a very good basketball team. Nothing but respect for them.”
Draymond Green: “It depends on what you describe a rivalry as. It’s two hard-playing teams. At the end of the day, they want to win and we want to win. Both teams have something to play for. Both teams feel like they can play late in June so both teams are going to play hard. I’ve said it before; you have some key matchups in the game where guys want to go at each other. Anytime you have that, you’re going to have a tough, hardnosed game.”
David Lee: “I wouldn’t call it a rivalry. I’d say that we’re two teams that seem to always play close games and tonight was no exception. Two teams with a lot of guys with pride on the line and I thought tonight was a game of runs. I thought tonight they got off to a great start and we didn’t play well to start the game. We were able to come back with our defense and I thought we finished the game great.”
Oct. 31, 2013: Clippers 126, Warriors 115
Doc Rivers: “I like the fight in the team, but not the fighting. To me, when nothing side tracks you and you just keep going, that’s toughness and that’s what I was proud of tonight. We got the lead, and all of a sudden things started getting chippy. We were able to keep our composure and keep playing. That’s a really good sign for us. That’s toughness.”
Chris Paul: “We’ve got to be more physical, but smart at the same time, because we definitely have a lot of eyes on us and sometimes people can mistake physicality for cheap shots and stuff like that. We are just trying not to be the guys that retaliate all the time. We are just trying to be aggressive and form an identity.”
DeAndre Jordan: “Just losing. The way we lost, the amount of points that we lost by. We remember things like that. That was one of the first things that Doc reminded us about when he got the job. Golden State, they smacked us last year. We definitely remembered that and wanted to get those guys back from last year. But we really wanted to get out and protect home court and get our first win.”
Mark Jackson: “I thought at times we were very good and there were times were we can’t turn the basketball over that much, they made us paid the price. We knew coming in what we had to do.”
David Lee: “A huge part of it was their ability to get out on the break. They had one time were they had three or four lobs on the break and if that two-minute span doesn’t happened, we’re right there at the end of the game as poorly as we played.”
Stephen Curry: “There were some bright spots but when you’re on the road playing against a team like that it thrives off turnovers and easy baskets; you can’t give them a game like that. It’s disappointing for me to let my shooting performance be over shadowed by eleven turnovers but it’s not going to keep me down.”