RECAP: Golden State Warriors 104, Los Angeles Clippers 107 – Live by the 3, die by the 3

Ronny being Ronny I guess.

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This is what we all wanted right? Close, entertaining games that ultimately wind up with a Warriors loss. The Warriors started the 4th quarter down by 4 and then like an old Batman tv show, Bam! Pow! Boom! they had 6 point lead. Anthony Morrow had 8 points in the span of 90 seconds, while Devean George and Reggie Williams both contributed 3 pointers. A quick blitz 14-4 run in the first 3 minutes of the quarter. The Clippers fought back and the game was close the rest of the way and even tied all the way at the 3 minute mark. Then Steve Novak hit a 3 pointer and the Warriors never recovered.

This game was just one Anthony Tolliver 3 pointer from being tied and heading to overtime. His shot nearly dropped as time ran out. Had he made it, it would have been a fitting moment in a game where the Warriors shot the lights out from 3 point range. More specifically, Reggie Williams (4-8 from 3), Stephen Curry (5-10 from 3), and Anthony Morrow (4-6 from 3) shot the lights out. Those 3 combined for 13-24! As a team, the Warriors shot 14-32 (43.8%). Live by the 3, die by the 3.

Stephen Curry
The kid's getting tired. 0 fg's in the 4th quarter and he only took 2 shots. To me, that's him with tired legs. He's averaging nearly 40 minutes a game since January 1st. But you know what? He still had one heck of a game! He ended up with 29 points (10-19 fg's), 9 boards, 4 assists, 3 steals, and 3 turnovers in 41 minutes.

He'll get some serious consideration for the rookie of the year voting if he keeps this up the next 3 games. Tyreke Evans is still the frontrunner, but there are others out there (Chris Broussard of ESPN) who think Brandon Jennings is the top guy because he's starting PG for a playoff team. To me, if you swap out Jennings for Curry (heaven forbid that in real life) and Jennings' 37% FG shooting for Curry's 46%, and I still think the Bucks are in the playoffs. I'm pulling for Curry obviously, but I think Evans should win it while Jennings is a distant third.

Baron Davis
I still miss Baron. Correction, I still miss the old Baron. What we saw in this game was the old Baron, just doing it all and filling up the boxscore. He was having a great game up until he sprained his right wrist early in the third quarter. In just 23 minutes, he had 21 points on 8-11 shooting, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 3 blocks and 0 turnovers. Even though he only played a few years with the Warriors, that Clippers jersey still looks odd on him.

Rebounding
As great as the Warriors shot from 3, they didn't shoot so well from inside the arc. In the end the Warriors wound up with 40% shooting compared to the Clippers 50% shooting. Put it this way, the Warriors took 9 more shots (and 6 less free throws), but ended up with 5 less FG's. All of those extra misses had to be rebounded and the Clippers got them all. The Clippers held a 55-39 rebounding edge over the Warriors while the offensive rebounds were an 9-8 edge. That 16 rebound advantage was huge as they really limited the Warriors second chance points with 15 more defensive rebounds than the Warriors.

Chris Kaman (27pts, 10rebs) and DeAndre Jordan (10pts, 15 rebs) both had double doubles. Based on just size, that's quite a formidable interior. The rest of the starting 5 did a good job rebounding as well: Rasual Butler with 8 boards, Baron's 5, and Steve Blake had 6. Kaman was truly a beast inside. Nobody on the Warriors could stop him. No matter how much Ronny Turiaf yells, screams, and gestures, it wasn't slowing Kaman down.

Where's Devean George going?

The Rest of the Warriors

• I still love watching Reggie Williams play and I'm glad the Warriors locked him up for next year. He's a scorer and can do it in different ways. He had 22 points tonight to go with 6 rebounds.
• Morrow had a decent night too with 18 points, but just 2 rebounds. On a night when the Warriors really needed some help on the boards, I wish Morrow would get in the paint and help out.
• While Anthony Tolliver didn't have a good shooting night (5-14) and scored just 10 points, he led the team in rebounding with 10 rebounds.
  
• Ronny Turiaf is still a horrendous rebounding center. 4 rebounds in 28 minutes? Stephen Curry had 9 in his 41 minutes. I'll give him props for his 5 assists and 2 steals, but somebody needs to teach this guy how to grab a board. Do you realize with all the injuries we've had with our big men (Turiaf included), he's had just 1 double digit rebounding game? ONE! It's frustrating when a guy with his size and motor can only grab 4 rebounds in 28 minutes.
• Lastly, Corey Maggette did not have a Maggette-like efficient night. 3-16 from the field. It hurts to type that. He did go 7-10 from the line to finish with 13 points, had 5 boards and 5 assists though. 3-16 though, Ouch!