Even as Stephen Curry dazzled together with his sharpshooting in the course of the third quarter, the Los Angeles Clippers, led by Kawhi Leonard, remained calm and unrelenting.
They might climate Curry’s greatest punches, stored their lead, after which pulled away from the Golden State Warriors within the fourth quarter.
Leonard continued his sizzling play with 30 factors, Paul George had 24, and the Clippers overcame Curry’s 50-point evening to beat the Warriors 134-126 on Wednesday evening.
“You know they are going to make big runs, but we kept our composure, stayed steady, and executed on the offensive end,” mentioned Leonard, who had his fourth 30-point effort within the final eight video games. He was 10 of 19 from the sector and had eight rebounds and 5 assists.
The Clippers (37-33) have received 4 straight to enter fifth place within the Western Conference. The defending NBA champion Warriors (36-34) are a recreation again because the groups cut up the four-game season sequence.
“We didn’t get stagnant. We executed our shots,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue mentioned. “When a guy like that (Curry) explodes, we stayed with the game plan. I thought our offense carried us.”
Curry tied a season-high in factors with the twelfth 50-point recreation of his profession. He was 20 of 28 and made eight 3-pointers.
“It’s nice to play and shoot well. It is what I expect to do every night,” Curry mentioned. “No matter what the stat sheet looks like after the game, it’s frustrating when you can’t get over the hump and figure out a way to win.”
Jordan Poole added 19 factors for the Warriors. They have misplaced 9 straight street video games.
Curry had 21 factors within the third quarter and hit three 3-pointers. He was 9 of 11 and had one stretch the place he hit 5 straight pictures. Despite that, the Clippers had a 99-93 lead going into the ultimate 12 minutes.
Los Angeles had a three-point benefit early within the fourth earlier than it went on a 10-1 run to drag away. Batum’s 3-pointer with 9:07 remaining put the Clippers up 109-97.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr mentioned one of many greatest keys within the recreation was the Clippers grabbing 16 offensive rebounds and having a 27-11 benefit in second-chance factors.
“With how our roster is right now, we’re vulnerable on the glass,” Kerr mentioned. “I thought the Clippers played a great game. Steph was sublime. It was incredible to watch him play tonight. It was a great, great game. We just came up short.”
Key run
The Clippers trailed 70-66 three minutes into the third quarter, then scored 14 straight factors to take a double-digit lead. Eric Gordon, who had 14 factors within the quarter, scored the final eight in the course of the run.
The Warriors countered with a 16-8 rally, together with 12 by Curry, to get inside a basket, however Leonard hit a 3-pointer on the subsequent journey down the ground to finish the run.
Not so candy 16
Draymond Green obtained his sixteenth technical foul of the season with 40.8 seconds remaining when he threw the ball off Russell Westbrook’s face following a Clippers’ layup.
Players obtain one-game suspensions as soon as they attain 16 in a season after which are suspended a recreation for every of two extra technical fouls.
Green had eight factors earlier than he fouled out and is tied with Memphis’ Dillon Brooks for probably the most technicals within the NBA.
Green was optimistic that he may keep away from attending Friday evening’s recreation at Atlanta.
“I expect some changes. I got one technical this year because a ref yelled at me,” he mentioned. “I said, ‘If I yell at you, I will get fined.’ And I got a tech for it. So I think something will change.”
Ejected
On the subsequent journey down the ground, Marcus Morris Sr. obtained a Flagrant-2 foul and was ejected with 31 seconds remaining within the first half.
Morris and Green have been vying within the paint for place whereas Curry was making an attempt a 3-pointer when it appeared Morris hit Green within the face.
Referee Kevin Scott mentioned on the ESPN broadcast: “All the components (for a Flagrant 2) were met: Wind-up, impact, follow-through above the shoulders, high potential for injury, and a non-basketball play.”
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