“They couldn’t handle their business.” That’s what Klay Thompson said earlier this season about the Clippers’ inability to advance in the playoffs and meet Golden State in the Western Conference Finals. It’s hard to decide whether the Clippers didn’t handle their business last night after going up by 23, or the Warriors took care of theirs like a boss. Whatever the semantics, the Dubs pulled off the rare 30-point swing on the road to become the fifth team ever to start 13 – 0.
1) After not using the Green-at-center lineup against Andre Drummond and the Pistons, Luke Walton showed no fear of DeAndre Jordan’s scoring prowess down low, opting to go with the small-ball unit for the final 5+ minutes of the game. The move paid off as the Warriors outscored the Clips by 17 points down the stretch. The small lineup came up huge with frenetic switching defense and timely threes (8 of 9 in the 4th). Curry got 40 points and the post game interview, but this was a team win. The Dubs got great contributions from half the squad.
2) So many big three-pointers down the stretch. Green had one to trim the lead to six entering the fourth; HB had two early in the fourth; Iguodala hit a couple; Klay had an off-balanced make to give the Ws the lead; and Curry had his usual split-second flings. The Dubs have four players shooting over 40% on triples, and that list doesn’t include Klay. They’re second in the league in 3-point attempts and first in percentage. That shooting proficiency and their mighty morphing D keeps them in every game. Even down 23, no Warriors fan thought the team was out of the game. They just needed Chris Paul to miss a few shots (after starting 7-7 in the first quarter, CP3 went 6-15 the rest of the way).
3) While playing center, Draymond boxed out DeAndre, defended Griffin like he had E-Honda hands, made a quick rotation to thwart a Paul runner, and forced another miss from CP3 one-on-one on the wing. There are players that can guard four positions admirably, and then there’s Draymond. He’s a category unto himself. Who else can defend 5 positions like him?
4) Steph took an intentional foul 2 minutes into the game to stop a potential fast break. I’m not a fan of these fouls because I enjoy watching dunks in transition, but I especially dislike them when Curry, Thompson, or Green commits them in the first half. NBA games are fluky and fouls can occur in bunches. Two minutes later Curry picked up his second foul.
5) Iguodala tied Curry for highest +/- in the game at +12. Curry had 40 points. Andre scored 8. That defense, man.
6) High basketball IQ isn’t easily quantifiable, but you can see the players who don’t always have it. In the third, as the Warriors were just showing signs of life by pulling to within 11, Austin Rivers has the ball and takes a 20-foot jumper with 11 seconds on the clock that surprised no one by missing badly (you could hear a Warrior scream “hell yeah” after the clank). Not one minute later the Dubs get two buckets in a row to pull within 7. All of a sudden the crowd gets nervous, the Clippers look timid and the Dubs realize they’re in the game. It was an innocuous play that didn’t decide the outcome, but you never know what might spark a momentum change.
7) If Ian Clark can start hitting that floater in the lane, the Dubs might have a reliable third point guard/shooting guard. He made a nice pass to Draymond for a buzzer-beating three at the end of the third. His development this season will be fun to watch.
8) Nitpicking: Curry has 7 turnovers in back-to-back games. He’s at 4,3 for the season. Steph is always going to have a lot of turnovers since he handles the ball so much and the opposing defense is schemed entirely around getting the rock out of his hands. But he had two especially bad, unforced giveaways in the fourth. Had the Warriors lost last night, this would’ve been a bigger storyline.
9) This Warriors-Clippers rivalry used to give us quotes like “God, don’t like ugly” and “that’s cowardly basketball.” But prior to this game Dray and JJ Redick were throwing the word “respect” around when describing each other’s team. Fellas, please, let’s keep the quotes biting and snarky. We don’t want the best rivalry in the NBA to become like every game versus the Spurs.
10) Epitome of a trap game tomorrow night against the 8 – 3 Bulls, who had the night off. But at this point, after this unbelievable comeback to cap back-to-back-to-back wild finishes, It’d be silly to question this team’s determination. 82 – 0 still a possibility!