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Warriors vs. Clippers recap: Steph Curry scores season-high 45 in 121-105 rout

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Steph Curry destroyed the Clippers in a dazzling matinee performance.

By Nate P.
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NBA: Golden State Warriors at Los Angeles Clippers Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

Stephen Curry had a season-high 45 points in under 30 minutes to lead the Golden State Warriors to a 121-105 win over the L.A. Clippers that was not nearly as close as the final score suggests.

After Blake Griffin went down with a concussion late in the first quarter, all the Clippers had left to challenge the Golden State Warriors was Lou Williams’ offense and DeAndre Jordan’s defense.

It wasn’t nearly enough to counter a dazzling shooting performance from Curry, who turned what could’ve been a trap game for the Warriors — it was the third game in four days with a 12:30 p.m. tip-off after spending a night in L.A. — into another rout for the defending champions.

A sluggish start for the Warriors

The Warriors got off to a sluggish start but somehow managed to take a 64-55 lead into halftime despite shooting 36%, missing consecutive layups, enduring a Stephen Curry airball and allowing Lou Williams to score 19 first half points.

So yeah, it was an ugly first half.

But Curry was ultimately there to save the day for the Warriors, scoring 29 of his season-high 45 in the first half, including 5-for-10 shooting from 3-point range and 9-for-10 shooting from the free throw line.

Buoyed by Curry’s play, the Warriors went on a 14-5 run over the last 3:30 of the first half to create separation between them and the Clippers. Yet the bigger development was probably the Warriors uncharacteristically dominating the boards and outscoring the Clippers 11-6 in the first half in second chance points with a dominant offensive rebounding percentage of 38%.

Curry fully deflates Clippers in third quarter

The third quarter was more of the Curry show.

The tone of the Clippers’ announcers in this clip was particularly delicious: they looked as deflated as the home team’s defense. The Clippers would head into the fourth quarter down 103-76. From there, it was all garbage time that the Clippers used to narrow the deficit to the final score of 121-105.

Free throws, rebounds help Warriors overcome poor shooting

While the 8-for-16 shooting and flurry of threes will garner the most attention, Curry’s free throw attempts were also noteworthy: Curry’s 16 attempts was also a season-high during a season when Curry is averaging a career-high 6.9 free throw attempts.

On top of everything else, Curry’s ability to get to the free throw line really helped give the Warriors a boost as they shot just 41% during the three quarters that the starters played.

The Warriors worked as a team to help themselves through the poor shooting as well: they entered today’s game ranked 20th in the league in offensive rebounding percentage at 21.5% and near the bottom of the league in second chance points. During the three quarters that the starters played, the Warriors had an offensive rebounding percentage of 38% that led to a 23-12 advantage in second chance points.

The Warriors will meet the Clippers again on Wednesday back at home after hosting the Denver Nuggets. But right now, Steph Curry makes it hard to imagine the Warriors losing any time soon.

Poll

Who was the Warrior Wonder for the Warriors’ win over the Clippers?

This poll is closed

  • 92%
    Steph Curry
    (729 votes)
  • 0%
    Draymond Green
    (4 votes)
  • 0%
    Andre Iguodala
    (0 votes)
  • 0%
    Zaza Pachulia
    (2 votes)
  • 0%
    Klay Thompson
    (4 votes)
  • 0%
    Patrick McCaw
    (1 vote)
  • 0%
    Nick Young
    (2 votes)
  • 0%
    Jordan Bell
    (4 votes)
  • 0%
    Omri Casspi
    (5 votes)
  • 1%
    Kevon Looney
    (10 votes)
  • 1%
    JaVale McGee
    (8 votes)
  • 0%
    Shaun Livingston
    (3 votes)
  • 1%
    David West
    (13 votes)
785 votes total Vote Now

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