The Warriors avoided a late collapse and picked up their third win in as many tries against the Clippers.
GAME LEADERS
It wound up way closer than it should have, but the Warriors held off a late Clippers run to preserve a 115-112 win on Saturday night in Los Angeles.
Before the Clippers went on a 13-0 run over the final 100 seconds of the game, the Warriors were in complete control behind a total team effort. Klay Thompson led the way with 32 points, Stephen Curry had 23 points and nine assists and Draymond Green logged his league-leading 11th triple-double of the season.
Thompson started hot for the Warriors, scoring 16 points in the first quarter as the Dubs made a statement that they were game for the challenge at hand. After sloppy play characterized their worst defeat of the season on Friday in Portland, the Warriors were focused from the opening tip. They didn’t issue any turnovers in the first quarter and led by as many as 13 points in the period.
The Warriors would never lose that advantage, although the Clippers certainly made it interesting in the end. Before the late scare – which occurred with the Warriors’ reserves on the floor – the Dubs were in complete control. Harrison Barnes, who finished with 18 points, knocked down a pair of fourth quarter 3-pointers to help push the Dubs’ lead to 18 points in the final period, and an Andre Iguodala putback slam had the Warriors up by 16 with two and a half minutes left in the game.
Playing without Andrew Bogut, who missed the game with a strained right Achilles, the Warriors went small to start the game. Brandon Rush started and Draymond Green took on the assignment to guard 7-footer DeAndre Jordan. As he has all season, Green stepped up. The All-Star forward had 18 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, leading the way in the Dubs’ franchise-record tying 28th game with at least 30 assists.
With the win, the Warriors improve to 49-5, which is the best record after 54 games in NBA history, and the Dubs will seek win number 50 when their road trip continues in Atlanta on Monday.