Warriors Blown out in Return to Action
Whether before or after All-Star Sunday, the losses have started coming and they don't stop coming.
In their first games after the break, the Los Angeles Clippers (25-14) took down the Golden State Warriors (19-19) to the tune of 130-104 at Staples Center on Thursday. The defeat for Golden State gave it its first four-game skid of the season after losing to Los Angeles, Portland and Phoenix before the hiatus.
Los Angeles took the lead from the jump, and ran away with the game after some slight first-quarter competitiveness.
The Clippers opened on a 12-3 run, with the first three points for the Warriors coming on a Kelly Oubre Jr. triple. Oubre had missed the last two games before the All-Star Break with a wrist injury, and was one of the wings tasked with guarding forward Kawhi Leonard, who ended the contest with a game-high 28 points after his fifth-career All-Star appearance last weekend.
Three-time All-Star Draymond Green recently said on 95.7 The Game he could return to shooting 38% from beyond the arc – his career-high for a season in 2015-16 – and hit his first two triples in the first quarter as the Warriors ended the period down 28-26. The opening frame also saw Leonard rattle off 11 straight points for the Clippers and had Golden State shoot just 34.8% from the field with Stephen Curry going 1-of-7.
After winning the 3-point contest Sunday, Curry struggled from distance and overall, scoring 14 points on 1-of-8 on triples and 6-of-16 from the field while also getting visibly frustrated at his teammates during a huddle. On the other hand, Los Angeles entered the game shooting a league-best 41.8% from beyond the arc, and ended the game 43.9% from distance over Golden State’s 25%.
Coach Steve Kerr then went with guards Nico Mannion and Jordan Poole to start the second quarter over guard Brad Wanamaker, who had been the first off of the bench behind Curry for most of the season. The Warriors were -11 in the pair’s first seven-minute stint, with Poole scoring three points and Mannion turning the ball over twice. With extended garbage-time action, the pair of guards finished combining for 24 points on 8-of-17 shooting in a combined 40 minutes.
Los Angeles led Golden State 59-43 with the teams heading to the locker room, as the Warriors only made a third of their shots from the field in the half with 10 turnovers to just eight assists.
The Clippers would open the second half scoring 13 of the first 16 points en route to dominating the Warriors 45-25 in the period. Guard Paul George came alive for the home side in the quarter and finished the contest with 17 points as neither he nor Leonard took the floor in the fourth quarter.
2020 No. 2 overall pick James Wiseman’s status for Thursday night was in question after the rookie center missed a COVID-19 test recently, but was cleared to play prior to the game. Wiseman did not leave the bench in the first three quarters, perhaps as punishment from Kerr for his testing absence as Kevon Looney got the start at the five. Wiseman had 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting in 11 minutes.
Following the loss, Warriors fell back to .500 for the first time since Feb. 8, and things do not look to be getting any easier for the 10th seed in the Western Conference. Golden State will host the Utah Jazz on Saturday – the team with the best record in the NBA – before finishing off the Chase Center back-to-back against the defending-champion Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.