The Golden State Warriors put up a sloppy performance against the Washington Wizards, with basically every starter struggling mightily on the offensive end. No one could make a shot, and although the Warriors were able to keep the game close with great defense, the execution down the stretch was poor.
Golden State has dropped three out of the last four games, and will look to regain some consistency against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Frontcourt: Blake Griffin registered solid double-doubles in the previous two meeting agains the Warriors this season, and he has carried a heavy scoring load with Chris Paul sidelined. He is averaging 25.4 points and deserves a lot of the credit for the team’s 9-3 streak since CP3 went down. DeAndre Jordan is also a tricky matchup, and it will be interesting to see whether Mark Jackson cross-matches David Lee and Andrew Bogut on the defensive end.
Backcourt: Paul tore apart the Warriors in both of the previous games, but he will be missing this one. In his absence, Darren Collison has done an admirable job, and has grown into the point guard role a little more. JJ Redick is a very tricky player as well, and the Warriors will have to make sure to keep track of him running off screens.
Keys to Warriors Victory:
Take Care Of The Ball: Warriors are one of the worst team in the league turnover-wise, and they committed 18 of them in a slow-paced game against the Wizards. Going up against a team that loves to run in the Clippers, Golden State simply cannot afford to be sloppy.
Los Angeles Clippers (33-15) vs. Golden State Warriors (27-19)
7:30 PM PST, January 30, 2014
ORACLE Arena, Oakland, CA
TV: TNT
Radio: KNBR 680 AM
Clippers Projected Starting Line-up
PG: Darren Collison
SG: JJ Redick
SF: Matt Barnes
PF: Blake Griffin
C: DeAndre Jordan
Key Reserves: G Jamal Crawford