The Warriors overcame a 15-point deficit but didn't have enough to close out the Clippers.
Kevin Durant had a playoff career-high 45 points but it wasn’t enough to stop the Clippers in a 129-121 loss on Wednesday night. The defeat leaves the series at 3-2 in favor of the Dubs, with Game 6 coming up on Friday in Los Angeles.
TEAM LEADERS
The Warriors played from behind for all but a few moments in the second half. They trailed by as many as 15 in the third quarter before Durant fueled a late comeback that resulted in the Dubs taking a one-point advantage with 2:40 left in the fourth quarter.
That lead however was short-lived, as Lou Williams answered with a four-point play to give the Clippers the lead right back. That was the first four of eight straight points for Lou Williams, who finished with 33 points and 10 assists to lead Los Angeles.
That the Dubs made eight of their first 10 3-pointers and had 41 points in the first quarter and still couldn’t create much separation pretty much says it all. The Warriors never led by more than four points, and the Clippers went ahead when they made seven of their first eight shots in the second quarter.
The Clippers pushed their lead to 15 in the third quarter before the Dubs started to chip away. Stephen Curry had a pair of 3-pointers and Kevin Durant had 14 points in the quarter. The Dubs’ had an 11-2 run that got them within three points late in the period, but the Clippers had an answer and scored seven unanswered and ended the quarter up by 10.
Curry complimented Durant’s big night with 24 points and Klay Thompson had 22, but the Dubs didn’t have enough scoring punch to keep up with the Clippers. Williams was 11-for-19 from the field and Montrezl Harrell also had a big night off the bench with 24 points on 11-for-14 shooting. Danilo Gallinari (26 points) and Patrick Beverley (17 points, 14 rebounds) also had their best games of the series.
After a tough loss at home, the Warriors will get another chance to close out the series on Friday night in Los Angeles.
More notable moments from the matchup:
- The Warriors record in Game 5 dating back to the 2015 postseason fell to 9-3 and 23-22 all-time.
- With a capacity crowd of 19,596, Golden State recorded its 335th consecutive sellout, the longest streak in franchise history.
- Kevin Durant scored a postseason career-high 45 points (previous high: 43 points in Game 3 of the NBA Finals on June 6, 2018 at Cleveland)… Durant went 14-of-24 from the field, 5-of-10 from three and 12-of-12 from the free throw line, recording his ninth postseason outing of 40-or-more points (second with the Warriors)… He added six rebounds, six assists, two steals and one block… Durant passed Paul Arizin (1,186) for sixth on the franchise’s all-time postseason scoring list (1,196)… He also passed John Havlicek (3,771) for 12th on the NBA’s all-time postseason scoring list.
- Stephen Curry became the first player in NBA history to reach the 400-career postseason threes milestone with four made threes on five attempts… Curry extended his NBA-record streak of postseason games with a made three to 95… He finished with 24 points.
- Alfonzo McKinnie recorded a postseason career-high seven points (previous: six points on April 18 at the L.A. Clippers).