Curry scores season-high 45 points, Warriors beat Clippers
CLEVELAND — Chanting through chattering teeth, Browns fans finally felt victorious.
Maybe the winless season wasn’t a total loss. Thousands of disgruntled Cleveland fans, some of them calling for owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam to sell the franchise or jump in Lake Erie, paraded once around the team’s stadium in frigid conditions Saturday following a historic 0-16 season.
It was a protest and it was a party as fans showed their outrage and creativity following a season many would gladly forget.
Despite wind chills below zero, fans lined the street around FirstEnergy Stadium, which has been dubbed the “Factory of Sadness” in recent years, to cheer as 80 vehicles, a rock band on a flatbed truck and a group carrying 28 tombstones to represent the team’s 28 starting quarterbacks since 1999, took a “no victory” lap.
Cleveland police conservatively estimated the crowd at 3,200, and reported no major incidents or arrests.
This was frozen fun mixed with some fury.
“I’m here to protest,” said Patty Szylakowski, who grew up in a football-loving household with five brothers. “We don’t deserve this. We deserve better people in the front office.
“We deserve better people coaching and we deserve better players. We’re buying Browns gear every year. We support them every year no matter what. Something has to be done and this is not a black eye on Cleveland.
“Every fan in all the NFL cities should be thinking about this. If they got crap like we did, they would be doing the same thing.”
That was the overriding sentiment among the frosted faithful who gathered on the sidewalks just feet away from a statue honoring legendary Browns running back Jim Brown.
This was a day for fans to express frustration at their football team, and most of the anger was aimed at the Haslams, who bought the team in 2012 but have been unable to produce the winner they’ve promised.
One fan held a sign that read: “Jimmy and Dee Go Jump in the Lake.” Another carried by a fan dressed as a bishop said: “Deliver us from Jimmy and Dee.”
The biting cold may have deterred some fans from attending, but it did nothing to curb Cleveland’s creativity or sarcasm.
Prompted by a fan with a bullhorn, one group of marchers chanted, “What do we want? Watchable football. When do we want it? Now.” There were floats, a few of them with obscene themes, fans wearing paper bags on their heads, and a Big Bird wearing Johnny Manziel’s jersey.
LOS ANGELES — Points came easily for Steph Curry on Saturday. Eleven in his first five minutes, 17 before the game was 8 1/2 minutes old.
“I just wanted to start off the game right,” Curry said. “It’s obviously weird starting a game at 12:30 (p.m.). You’ve got to find that energy and something to build momentum, especially early.”
He finished with a seasonhigh 45 points without playing the fourth quarter and the Golden State Warriors ran away from the Los Angeles Clippers 121-105 for their fourth straight victory.
“I knew right away, when I got free for a couple of threes in the first quarter and they went down, I got in a rhythm,” Curry said. “Beyond that, you just keep your head down and keep shooting and stay aggressive.”
Curry took advantage of the guard-depleted Clippers, making 11 of 21 shots, including 8 of 16 3-pointers, going against rookie Juwan Evans and G-League callup Tyrone Wallace.
In the four games since missing 11 with an ankle injury, Curry has averaged 36 points on 58 percent shooting, 54 percent beyond the arc.
“He’s been on fire. Maybe the break was good for him,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “He’s been amazing.”
Said Curry: “Coming off the injury, obviously I’ve got fresh legs, a nice rhythm. I was able to put some good work in the week and a half before I got back on the floor.”
The Clippers’ Blake Griffin suffered a concussion late in the first quarter when he stumbled driving into the lane from the right wing and hit his head on JaVale McGee’s right elbow. Griffin fell to the floor immediately, and remained down for several minutes as team physicians tended to him. He walked off under his own power and went to the locker room.
“Blake’s a pretty tough guy, he should be OK,” teammate DeAndre Jordan said. “But we definitely want him to be cautious and do whatever he needs to do to be OK.”
Nick Young and JaVale McGee each scored 11 points, and Klay Thompson and David West added 10 apiece for Golden State.