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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.
Steve Kerr said he tried to warn the Warriors against going too hard last night, "but they were all gone by the time I could clear my throat."
— Connor Letourneau (@Con_Chron) January 6, 2018
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.
— Nate (@realnatewalton) January 6, 2018
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.
A declining, collaborative 29 points tho https://t.co/QQyo5bTzcs
— Killjoy, stable genius (@KilljoyGSW) January 6, 2018
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.
If Steph Curry devoted himself to becoming strictly a left-handed shooter, could he make 45% of his 3s? pic.twitter.com/1EvvTCC8Jh
— Drew Shiller (@DrewShiller) January 6, 2018
.@StephenCurry30 is feeling it against the Clippers!
— NBA TV (@NBATV) January 6, 2018
He's up to a season-high 45 PTS . pic.twitter.com/abhpJfgLgZ
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.
Steph Curry is 13-for-14 from the free throw line today = season high in attempts. He last attempted double digits (13) on Oct. 23...
— Drew Shiller (@DrewShiller) January 6, 2018
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.
They do it for @NateP_SBN bc he loves it so https://t.co/WfzHUKAcU7
— Thomas Bevilacqua (@THBevilacqua) January 6, 2018
Poll
Who was the Warrior Wonder for the Warriors’ win over the Clippers?
This poll is closed
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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)