Golden State Warriors vs. Los Angeles Clippers: Postgame Grades and Analysis
The Golden State Warriors have been putting teams away in the third quarter lately. Tuesday, they waited till the fourth before turning on the jets and beating the Los Angeles Clippers, 110-106 at the Staples Center.
Golden State won the final frame 28-18, ratcheting up the defensive intensity after surrendering 35 in the third.
The Warriors were led by Stephen Curry, who ran Chris Paul all over the floor and scored 27 points on 8-of-15 shooting.
Paul scored 27 points as well, while dishing out a game-high nine assists.
His running mate, Blake Griffin, was spectacular. He dropped a game-high 40 points on 16-of-25 shooting, grabbed 12 boards and dished out five assists.
| Stephen Curry | A |
| Klay Thompson | B |
| Andrew Bogut | B+ |
| David Lee | B- |
| Rest of Team | B |
| Chris Paul | B+ |
| Blake Griffin | A+ |
| DeAndre Jordan | C+ |
| J.J. Redick | D+ |
| Rest of Team | D |
Golden State Warriors
Stephen Curry: A
Curry was a steady source of offense from the opening tip to the final buzzer, often getting his buckets in dazzling fashion.
His second-quarter dropping of Paul with a nasty crossover sent Twitter into a tizzy and had a similar impact on the game.
The Clippers had controlled the majority of the first half, but plays like that seize momentum. Golden State went from being down 17 to just seven by the half. They then dropped 36 in the third quarter.
The theatrics are actually quite functional.
Klay Thompson was a huge part of the Warriors offensive explosion in the third quarter, at one point scoring 11 straight points on a series of contested jump shots. For a few seconds, he conjured up visions of his 37-point quarter against the Sacramento Kings.
He stayed fairly warm heading into the fourth quarter and finished the game with 25 points on 8-of-21 shooting, grabbed eight rebounds and handed out four assists.
Defensively, Thompson did a great job of slowing down J.J. Redick, who came into the game averaging 22.7 points on 58.7 percent shooting over his last seven.
Andrew Bogut: B+
Andrew Bogut's traditional box-score numbers are never indicative of the impact he has on a game. The way he can orchestrate the offense from the high post on one end and anchor the defense in the low post on the other makes him indispensable.
He handled both of those jobs excellently, dishing out five assists on offense and holding DeAndre Jordan to five points on 1-of-5 shooting on defense.
Bogut also chipped in with nine rebounds and six points before fouling out with 1:26 left in the fourth.
David Lee: B-
David Lee started in place of Draymond Green and played great on one side of the floor. He scored 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting, finishing a number of plays inside with dexterity and cleverness.
Defensively, though? Eesh.
Lee got the assignment to cover Griffin, which is tough for anyone, and proved borderline futile in his efforts. Griffin found himself wide open on several jumpers. When he wasn't, he went right around Lee like he wasn't even there.
Rest of Team: B
Starting small forward Harrison Barnes really struggled to contribute on either side of the ball, laying a rare egg. He shot 0-of-7 from the field and finished with just one point.
A pair of reserves helped make up for Barnes' lack of production, though.
Big man Marreese Speights scored 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting, hitting some critical mid-range jumpers and closing out the game in the fourth quarter.
Andre Iguodala, meanwhile, did a great job of running the offense off the bench, finishing the game with a team-high seven assists.
Los Angeles Clippers
Chris Paul: B+
Is there anything in today's NBA harder than chasing Curry all over the floor for 36 minutes? Paul did his darnedest, but, well you saw the highlight above. Even the best on-ball defenders will get got at some point by Curry.
All that work chasing the younger guard around seemed to take a toll on Paul's shot on the other end, as he finished the game shooting 7-of-17 from the field. Even that looks better than it was, as he made two conceded layups on the Clippers' last two possessions.
But in typical CP3 fashion, he managed to turn a tough game into an impressive stat line, thanks in large part to making all 12 of his free throws. He put on a clinic in drawing fouls.
Blake Griffin: A+
Coming into Tuesday's action, Blake Griffin was averaging 17.4 points in his eight appearances since returning from injury. He used his matchup with Lee as an opportunity to explode out of that mini-slump.
He was almost the perfect mix of early-career Blake (seemingly seeking out things to dunk on) and current Blake (the one in a committed relationship with the long two).
When he mixes things up the way he did against Lee, Griffin is a ridiculous offensive force.
DeAndre Jordan: C+
Jordan wasn't able to impact the game offensively with Bogut checking him. The lobs and putbacks he typically feasts on simply weren't available with Bogut consuming the paint.
Jordan was still a force on the boards, though, grabbing a game-high 15 rebounds.
J.J. Redick: D+
Redick got a lot of the same looks he gets against most teams. The difference was how much quicker Thompson and other Warriors' defenders were able to close the space in front of Redick before he got his shots off.
He cooled off significantly, scoring 14 points on just 4-of-12 shooting from the field and 1-of-6 from three-point range.
Rest of Team: D
Like his counterpart on Golden State, small forward Matt Barnes struggled from the field, scoring eight points on 3-of-9 shooting.
The bench was even worse. The combination of Austin Rivers, Glen Davis, Spencer Hawes and Hedo Turkoglu combined to score 12 points on 5-of-14 shooting.
Coming Up Next
The Clippers' next game will be on the road, Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET against the Portland Trail Blazers. Paul will face another dynamic scorer in Damian Lillard, someone L.A. will likely need to slow down to win the game.
As for the Warriors, they'll be at home to take on the Phoenix Suns, Thursday at 10:30 p.m. ET. If the defense can key on Eric Bledsoe the way it did Paul, Golden State will be just fine.
Andy Bailey covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him @AndrewDBailey.
