Reaction: Warriors 105, Clippers 103

Los Angeles Clippers

103

105

Golden State Warriors

	David Lee, PF 39 MIN \| 10-20 FG \| 3-3 FT \| 13 REB \| 3 AST \| 0 STL \| 1 BLK \| 5 TO \| 23 PTS \| +10Lee got off to a rough start. He was quickly blocked twice by DeAndre Jordan and finished the quarter shooting 1/7 from the field. Lee recovered and finished the game with an impressive line. Of course, his Clippers counterpart was ejected early in the 4Q, which surely opened it up more for Lee. While his jumper is still missing, it says something that Lee hangs in there in the paint, especially after misses. It’s almost as if Lee knows when he’s going to miss when under the rim and times his putbacks accordingly. Whether you think his presence on this team is a hindrance or not, there’s no denying that Lee has played well the last week. He’s regained at least some of his All-Star form from last season.
	Andre Iguodala, SF 33 MIN \| 3-5 FG \| 0-2 FT \| 4 REB \| 4 AST \| 2 STL \| 0 BLK \| 1 TO \| 9 PTS \| +13Andre’s lines still aren’t impressing, but I have a feeling this will be the norm more often than not (at least for the foreseeable future). Andre had some nice effort plays tonight that won’t show up on the box score — saving balls from going out of bounds — and his stifling defense continues to impress. His ball-handling is his most important skill as of this moment, and he provides a needed handler with no real backup PG on the roster. The Warriors won’t ask Andre to score very often, but it’d be nice if he picked up the pace in that department to make other defenders ease off of Curry and Thompson a bit.
	Andrew Bogut, C 28 MIN \| 5-8 FG \| 0-0 FT \| 14 REB \| 1 AST \| 2 STL \| 0 BLK \| 0 TO \| 10 PTS \| +1Bogut suffered a minor ankle strain in Denver but you could hardly tell it was bothering him Wednesday night. He’s averaging only 28 MPG and he hit that average tonight. Bogut has clearly been the Warriors’ defensive enforcer this season and that was on full display again as he was involved in two scuffles on Christmas. The first occurred with 10:43 left in the 4Q as Bogut and Blake Griffin got tangled up under the basket, leading to some elbows being thrown and a whole lot of nothing really. Bogut attempted to walk away immediately and it seemed their teammates were more into the “brawl” than the actual brawlers. Nevertheless, it lead Griffin’s ejection and some interesting postgame quotes from Kia’s leading man. When the game ended it was Bogut getting into it with Chris Paul, who attempted to knock the ball out of his hands before Bogut took exception to it. The Warriors are loving the fire that Bogut brings to the team, even more so when it’s against the Clippers.
	Stephen Curry, PG 42 MIN \| 5-17 FG \| 3-3 FT \| 6 REB \| 11 AST \| 1 STL \| 0 BLK \| 2 TO \| 15 PTS \| +8Curry + sleeves = no good. Before the game Curry was shooting 29% for his career with sleeves and this performance surely won’t help that clip. Credit to Chris Paul, who shadowed Curry around screens and in transition all night long to near perfection. Curry was flustered and couldn’t get any rhythm going. The highlight of Curry’s night came late in the 4Q when he went on a mini-duel with CP3 as the two exchanged buckets for possession after possession. His shooting was undoubtedly off, but the 11 assists — and only two turnovers — were impressive. He’s not quite in CP3’s class yet, but Curry has earned the right to be in the discussion for best point guard playing basketball today.
	Klay Thompson, SG 42 MIN \| 10-22 FG \| 0-2 FT \| 5 REB \| 4 AST \| 2 STL \| 2 BLK \| 1 TO \| 23 PTS \| +8Thompson was the best player on the floor for the Warriors tonight, and it’s refreshing to type those words. Thompson has been the model for inconsistency this season and he comes through with one of his more complete games this season. Thompson was a cog defensively as well, highlighted by a block on CP3 with 1.0 second to go in the game that lead towards a Jamal Crawford miss as time expired. More games like this are needed from Thompson, and this was a step in the right direction as he continues to find his way in this confusing, often-frustrating semblance of an offense.

Quote of the game:

“We like them. Merry Christmas.” — Mark Jackson

Andrew Bogut Scuffle #1:

Andrew Bogut Scuffle #2:

Looking ahead: the Warriors stay at Oracle for a home matchup with the Pheonix Suns on Friday night. The Warriors hope to avenge their December 15 (106-102) loss to the Suns before embarking on a seven-game road trip to help kick off the new year (@CLE, @ORL, @MIA, @ATL, @WAS, @MIL, @BKN).

Tweets of the night:

GSW’s problem on offense is they have 4 gifted passers yet hunt mismatches instead of letting general ball movement find open shooters.

— Kevin Draper (@kevinmdraper) December 26, 2013

I’ll abide the flagrant but I am NOT letting you take Ryan Hollins off the floor! -Mark Jackson. #warriors

— Bobby G (@bobbyg27) December 26, 2013

Warriors are now 11-0 when Curry has 2 turnovers or less. 8-0 when he scores under 20.

— Jim Park (@SheridanBlog) December 26, 2013

Follow @JRAM_91

	David Lee, PF 39 MIN \| 10-20 FG \| 3-3 FT \| 13 REB \| 3 AST \| 0 STL \| 1 BLK \| 5 TO \| 23 PTS \| +10Lee got off to a rough start. He was quickly blocked twice by DeAndre Jordan and finished the quarter shooting 1/7 from the field. Lee recovered and finished the game with an impressive line. Of course, his Clippers counterpart was ejected early in the 4Q, which surely opened it up more for Lee. While his jumper is still missing, it says something that Lee hangs in there in the paint, especially after misses. It’s almost as if Lee knows when he’s going to miss when under the rim and times his putbacks accordingly. Whether you think his presence on this team is a hindrance or not, there’s no denying that Lee has played well the last week. He’s regained at least some of his All-Star form from last season.
	Andre Iguodala, SF 33 MIN \| 3-5 FG \| 0-2 FT \| 4 REB \| 4 AST \| 2 STL \| 0 BLK \| 1 TO \| 9 PTS \| +13Andre’s lines still aren’t impressing, but I have a feeling this will be the norm more often than not (at least for the foreseeable future). Andre had some nice effort plays tonight that won’t show up on the box score — saving balls from going out of bounds — and his stifling defense continues to impress. His ball-handling is his most important skill as of this moment, and he provides a needed handler with no real backup PG on the roster. The Warriors won’t ask Andre to score very often, but it’d be nice if he picked up the pace in that department to make other defenders ease off of Curry and Thompson a bit.
	Andrew Bogut, C 28 MIN \| 5-8 FG \| 0-0 FT \| 14 REB \| 1 AST \| 2 STL \| 0 BLK \| 0 TO \| 10 PTS \| +1Bogut suffered a minor ankle strain in Denver but you could hardly tell it was bothering him Wednesday night. He’s averaging only 28 MPG and he hit that average tonight. Bogut has clearly been the Warriors’ defensive enforcer this season and that was on full display again as he was involved in two scuffles on Christmas. The first occurred with 10:43 left in the 4Q as Bogut and Blake Griffin got tangled up under the basket, leading to some elbows being thrown and a whole lot of nothing really. Bogut attempted to walk away immediately and it seemed their teammates were more into the “brawl” than the actual brawlers. Nevertheless, it lead Griffin’s ejection and some interesting postgame quotes from Kia’s leading man. When the game ended it was Bogut getting into it with Chris Paul, who attempted to knock the ball out of his hands before Bogut took exception to it. The Warriors are loving the fire that Bogut brings to the team, even more so when it’s against the Clippers.
	Stephen Curry, PG 42 MIN \| 5-17 FG \| 3-3 FT \| 6 REB \| 11 AST \| 1 STL \| 0 BLK \| 2 TO \| 15 PTS \| +8Curry + sleeves = no good. Before the game Curry was shooting 29% for his career with sleeves and this performance surely won’t help that clip. Credit to Chris Paul, who shadowed Curry around screens and in transition all night long to near perfection. Curry was flustered and couldn’t get any rhythm going. The highlight of Curry’s night came late in the 4Q when he went on a mini-duel with CP3 as the two exchanged buckets for possession after possession. His shooting was undoubtedly off, but the 11 assists — and only two turnovers — were impressive. He’s not quite in CP3’s class yet, but Curry has earned the right to be in the discussion for best point guard playing basketball today.
	Klay Thompson, SG 42 MIN \| 10-22 FG \| 0-2 FT \| 5 REB \| 4 AST \| 2 STL \| 2 BLK \| 1 TO \| 23 PTS \| +8Thompson was the best player on the floor for the Warriors tonight, and it’s refreshing to type those words. Thompson has been the model for inconsistency this season and he comes through with one of his more complete games this season. Thompson was a cog defensively as well, highlighted by a block on CP3 with 1.0 second to go in the game that lead towards a Jamal Crawford miss as time expired. More games like this are needed from Thompson, and this was a step in the right direction as he continues to find his way in this confusing, often-frustrating semblance of an offense.