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David Lee, PF 29 MIN | 4-8 FG | 0-0 FT | 12 REB | 4 AST | 8 PTS | +3
Lee was limited throughout the night due to early foul trouble. His poor defense both individually and as a helper was part of the reason why the Clips paraded to the free throw line in the contest. |
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Harrison Barnes, SF 20 MIN | 4-6 FG | 2-2 FT | 1 REB | 1 AST | 10 PTS | +3
Barnes’ night was a real short one as he was plagued by foul trouble. Mind you when he did get a chance to play in the second half, he helped with ballhandling duties and even initiated the offense a bit. More impressive, the rookie had two huge momentum stemming scores in the fourth quarter. |
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Festus Ezeli, C 28 MIN | 2-4 FG | 4-10 FT | 5 REB | 0 AST | 8 PTS | +5
Ezeli struggled with fouls in the contest but he was a physical interior presence that carved out rebounding space and also made scoring on the interior quite difficult for the Clippers. |
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Stephen Curry, SG 43 MIN | 6-16 FG | 9-10 FT | 4 REB | 4 AST | 23 PTS | +6
Curry put on a dribbling and shooting show in the first half, putting up 15 points and taking advantage of the Clippers defense when Jack joined him in the backcourt. He cooled down in the second half and struggled with his decision-making in the fourth quarter but made the biggest play of the game by drawing a charge on Chris Paul with the Warriors leading by two with under 10 seconds left in the game. |
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Klay Thompson, SG 28 MIN | 6-17 FG | 3-3 FT | 8 REB | 3 AST | 17 PTS | +2
Thompson didn’t necessarily have a good shooting night, but he contributed in other areas, helping set up teammates with his movement and passing and also getting in on the action on the boards. Thompson even rotated defensively and blocked out the likes of DeAndre Jordan from getting offensive rebounds. |
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Carl Landry, PF 32 MIN | 11-16 FG | 1-4 FT | 10 REB | 2 AST | 23 PTS | 0
Carl Landry’s performance tonight prompted a series of ridiculous tweets from me that resulted in our very own Rasheed Malek and Jordan Ramirez make fun of me. But the fact still remains that Landry was by far the best Warriors player tonight as he crashed the boards and scored repeatedly in the paint despite the Clippers’ best efforts to thwart him. |
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Three Things We Saw
- Early in the contest, the guards seemed completely confused with respect to their assignments in the pick-and-roll. Luckily enough, the Clippers stayed away from running them and the Dubs eventually corrected their issues. Interesting to see if this happens again.
- The Los Angeles Clippers obviously deserve a lot of credit for playing hard and fighting to stay in the game, but the Warriors had a 14-point lead early in the game and allowed their opponents to climb back into game by getting to the free throw line. The Dubs fouled players on jumpers, failed to block out and then committed over the back fouls and also had a lot of hits away from the ball. The end result was the Clips going 25-for-31 from the free throw line in the first half!
- Jarrett Jack and Carl Landry might just be the best bench duo in the league. Whenever they enter the contest, they just find a way to make plays and change the tempo of the game in favor of the Warriors.
I agree that it is dangerous to rely on the 16-23 foot shot. But when Luol Deng is httniig them, I don’t see any problem with getting the ball to him. And he was httniig them all night.My question is how much of Portland’s bad shooting was because of Chicago’s defense, and how much was based on luck or an off night on the road? It seemed to me that Portland was also settling for the outside shot quite a bit, and, unlike Chicago, they weren’t httniig them.
Its hilarious how Steinmetz gives Klay no love, he is playing solid D (tough on-ball D against Jamal Crawford/Rudy Gay) rebounding, distributing within the offense not forcing anything. Of course he has a tough shooting night and its cause for concern in matty’s eyes but then Curry has an abysmal night from the floor and its “uncharacteristic”. Why doesn’t any bay area sports writer ( aside from WarriorsWorld) give Klay the recognition he deserves?
Landry is obviously a more gifted offensive player but we need those skills mostly when Curry, Thompson and Co. are on the bench resting. He is better suited at the moment bringing some spark off the bench especially now that RUSH is out the year….Jack and Landry were great additions, Kudos to the front office…
Agree with others…Festus Ezeli’s grade is off the mark. This kind of interior defense and toughness from a rookie playing against the most athletic frontline on a playoff bound team in their own arena was nothing short of amazing. He just plays with such composure, and you can tell his play really instills confidence in the rest of the team. He is absolutely my favorite player right now….Landry is a close second!
As to point 3, it’s a weird dilemma. Landry may be simply better than Lee, at least when it counts and Curry is just way more effective off the ball.
So do we start Jack at the 1 and Landry at the 4?