What We Learned About the Clippers in Crushing Defeat to the Warriors
Controlling the game with a 23-point lead in the second quarter, the Los Angeles Clippers looked like they were going to put an end to the Golden State Warriors' perfect start on Thursday night.
They looked the better team, playing solid defense that translated to easy buckets in transition. But then Harrison Barnes hit a circus shot, and Stephen Curry and the Warriors came alive after halftime. They outscored the Clippers 70-49 in the third and fourth quarters and came away with the 124-117 victory.
This was the second game this season that the Clippers looked strong against the Warriors and gave up a lead.
Throughout the summer and offseason, the Clippers gathered pieces to assemble a second unit that could come off the bench in support of the main cast. Paul Pierce was brought over from Washington, Lance Stephenson came over from Charlotte and Josh Smith signed a team-friendly deal after a stint with the Houston Rockets.
This was supposed to be a team with depth, but head coach Doc Rivers decided that the team's rotation would only go eight-men deep on Thursday night.
On the flip side, the Warriors played 12 players.
The improved play of Austin Rivers is a start for the Clippers as they need him and Jamal Crawford to be 'instant offense' when they get on the floor. The absence of J.J. Redick on Thursday night due to back spasms did hurt the Clippers, but there's no excuse for giving up a 23-point lead.
On Nov. 4, the visiting Clippers held a 10-point lead at Oracle Arena in the fourth quarter. They still had a one-point lead with 1:17 left on the clock before the Warriors came back to steal the win.
Fast-forward to Thursday, Nov. 19.
Chris Paul had 18 points in the first quarter shooting 7-of-7 to start the game. He finished with 35 points and eight assists, but he was once again outplayed by Curry, who scored 40 points and gathered 11 rebounds on the night. Griffin totaled 27 points on 11-of-20 shooting. But even his performance wasn't enough to lift the Clippers over the defending NBA champions.
"Even when they were hitting everything, it still never felt like they were just controlling the game,"Warriors forward Draymond Green said in an interview with ESPN.
They were just flat-out beaten by the Warriors.
The play of Blake Griffin and Paul can carry this team up the Western Conference standings and even into the playoffs. But what happens when they get there next summer and have to play the Warriors who, as things currently stand, will have home-court advantage?
Are the Clippers good enough to defeat the Warriors in a seven-game series? The answer is no, or at least not yet.
The Clippers have proven twice this season that they can compete with the Warriors. Sure, the rivalry is lopsided in favor of Golden State. But no team holds a 23-point lead in the second quarter of a game over an opponent without having an upper hand.
The problem that plagues the Clippers is consistency over four quarters. Paul started out the night 7-of-7 from the field in the first quarter but finished the night 13-of-22, meaning that he went 6-of-15 over the following three quarters.
Looking at the box score on the surface, it's hard to see why the Clippers lost: They turned the ball over nine times less than Golden State, had two more fast-break points than the Warriors and scored 10 more points in the paint. But under closer examination, it becomes clear.
The Clippers shot 16-of-24 from the free-throw line for 66.7 percent, even though DeAndre Jordan converted 5-of-8 of his shots from the charity stripe. Golden State converted 31-of-36 attempts from the line for 86.1 percent.
The Clippers shot a decent percentage from the field (50 percent, 44.8 percent from three-point range) but allowed the Warriors to shoot 52.1 percent and 56.7 percent from deep. The Warriors hit 17 three-pointers over the course of the game, which is unforgivable for a defensive-minded coach like Rivers.
The Clippers are always looking for a shootout against the Warriors, but the problem is that no one can outshoot Golden State, and least of all Curry at this point in his career. For the Clippers to be successful against the Warriors and be serious contenders for the Western Conference title this year, they need to focus on improving their perimeter defense by adding more capable defenders.
Paul is one of the NBA's best defenders at the point guard position. But that's where things fall apart defensively for the Clippers. Crawford and Rivers are not good enough defenders to hold the likes of Curry and Klay Thompson under wraps for periods at a time. Stephenson was a solid defender during his time with the Indiana Pacers but was inactive for Thursday night's game.
Losing Matt Barnes may not have seemed that big of a deal when it happened, but Barnes was a decent defender who didn't back down from anyone on the perimeter. The Clippers roster is missing a player like Barnes, a tall, athletic wing defender who can play in scattered minutes.
Looking at the Warriors, they have capable defenders all over their roster in (Harrison) Barnes, Andre Iguodala, Green and Thompson, just to name a few. The Clippers need to improve their roster by the trade deadline if they have any hope of beating the Warriors, or whomever they face in the playoffs in the coming months, but also need to be a more consistent team all-around.
For now, the Warriors remain unbeaten while the Clippers look back at what could've been. Only time will tell if things will change for Los Angeles.
