Clippers hound Curry as offense sputters late
On a night when Steph Curry could not find his rhythm against a hounding defense, the Warriors’ shortcomings were put on display.
In the Warriors’ 108-101 loss to the Clippers Wednesday night at Chase Center, Curry was the target of Patrick Beverley’s inyour- chest defense and a consta nt double team that forced the ball out of his hands. And with Klay Thompson lost for the season to an Achilles tear and Draymond Green reluctant to score, the Warriors (4- 4) had no recourse as Curry finished with just 13 points on 5- of-17 shoot
ing (1- of- 6 from 3-point range), five assists and four rebounds.
Andrew Wiggins’ spurt in the second quarter and 19 points from Eric Paschall — who led a bench unit that outscored that of the Clippers, 47-34 — was not enough. Without a consistent source of offense, the Warriors were outdone by the Clippers’ (6-3) All-Star duo of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
After a 10- 0 run capped by Damion Lee’s 3- pointer, the Warriors took an 87- 83 lead
at the start of the fourth quarter. However, Leonard paced a 25-10 run to put the Clippers up comfortably by 11 with 1:36 to go. Leonard and George both finished with 21 points apiece.
Make no mistake, this game was a slog. Sloppy turnovers piled up, the game was played at a crawling pace, and both teams struggled to make perimeter shots or generate offense in the half court. Golden State went 8-for-30 from 3-point range, while the Clippers shot 11-for-34 from beyond the arc.
But these are also the games the top teams find a way to win. Buoyed by a bench unit that provided strength in numbers, the Warriors competed into the fourth quarter. They never unraveled, they were simply out-talented.
After getting blown out by championship- caliber teams in Brooklyn and Milwaukee to start the season, this could be taken as a sign that the Warriors are emerging as a playoff contender.
“I love this team,” head coach Steve Kerr said. “They are competing like crazy. They’re absorbing things and are getting better every day ... This is a really, really good group and we’re going to improve quite a bit over the course of the season.”
This was the first game of a two-game series against
the Clippers and a challenging seven-game stretch featuring some of the league’s best. The rematch is Friday, when the Warriors will try to find a way to get Curry rolling and account for a talent discrepancy that could be exploited over the next couple of weeks.
Here are four takeaways from the Warriors’ loss. BEVERLEY IS A PEST >> Beverley has made a career by being an irritant who guards full court, invades personal space and taunts after misses. He’s the sort of player tailor-made to bother Curry, and the Clippers unleashed him.
Curry had to work for even the slightest amount of space and, when he did earn it, the Clippers sent help. The strategy was simple: Take the ball out of Curry’s hands. And it worked, as Curry’s usage rate (23.9%) was 11 points
below that of his season average (34.9%).
THE DEFENSE IS IMPROVING >> The Clippers are a jumpshooting team and were playing on a second night of a back-to-back, so tired legs could have led to them missing mid-range jumpers and 3-point attempts they’d normally make. But they are also deeply talented. It could have been easy for Wiggins or Kelly Oubre Jr. to be overpowered by Leonard and George, or for Lou Williams to dominate Golden State’s bench. Instead, Wiggins got into Leonard’s airspace and Oubre, a constant pest, never let George get comfortable. Williams taking four shots in 20 minutes is a win and, after forcing the Clippers into 20 turnovers, the Warriors will be in the top five in the league in opponent turnovers. “We have gotten so much better at the
defensive end over the last week or 10 days,” Kerr said. WIGGINS IS THEIR WING STOPPER >> One of the questions heading into the season was who on this team could credibly defend the top wings in the NBA. With Thompson out, that responsibility has fallen to Wiggins. With the Clippers back at Chase Center on Friday, Wiggins will again draw the Leonard assignment. Scanning the rest of the upcoming slate, future assignments will include Pascal Siakam, Victor Oladipo, Michael Porter Jr., Devin Booker and LeBron James.
“I know it’s every game,” Wiggins said. “I know I have to bring it because if I take a break, take a breath, they’re at my neck. So I have to stay with it.” STRONG BENCH UNIT >> After Wednesday’s 46-point performance, the Warriors’ bench should rank among the top five scoring second units in the league. Playing as a small-ball center, Paschall has become the anchor of a group that gets down the court quickly, can switch defensively and create mismatches on offense.
“Defensively is where we hang our hats and we got plenty of stops tonight,” said Kent Bazemore, a core part of the second-unit rotation along with Brad Wanamaker and Lee. “We’re able to get out in transition. And to have Eric at the five and with the court spacing we have as a unit is very pivotal for us.”