TNT’s Barkley remains a Golden State doubter
Down big, Golden State rallies to keep unbeaten run going
LOS ANGELES — Everyone in the NBA has been amazed by the Warriors’ historic start. Well, almost everybody. TNT analyst Charles Barkley on Wednesday was asked about the Warriors by Colin Cowherd on Fox Sports Radio.
“We would have just mauled them. You’re not going to just let guys come off those picks,” Barkley said. “… A guy like Steph ( Curry), who is amazing, you can’t put your hands on him, and you can’t hand check him. It’s a totally different game, but I think the way you play against the Warriors is: ‘ I’m going to beat Steph up off pick- and- rolls. I’m going to make him play defense. Also, I’m just going to try to pound these guys on the boards.’
“They have a small team, and I’m just going to pound them down low. Even if you go back and look at the ( NBA) Finals, Steph and Klay ( Thompson) did not play great. ( Warriors head coach) Steve Kerr won the series, because he switched ( Andre) Iguodala onto LeBron ( James) and just wore him out. … ( The Warriors) struggled against the Cavaliers, who had one player.
“Before we hand them the championship, let’s just wait a little bit.” Kerr travels: Kerr, who is taking a leave of absence while recovering from two offseason back surgeries, traveled with the team for the first time during the regular season and provided one of his customary stirring speeches.
“It’s great, obviously. He had a phenomenal message to the
LOS ANGELES — The Warriors know they’re not going to go 82- 0.
In fact, shooting guard Klay Thompson said some would think “it was rigged or something” if the Warriors pulled off the impossible.
Well, the conspiracy theorists can have at it after Thursday night’s shocker at Staples Center, where the Warriors erased a 23- point deficit and hit a barrage of late three- pointers to pull off an improbable 124- 117 victory over the Clippers.
After clawing back from the big deficit, the Warriors still trailed 10596 with 6: 32 remaining. They then made six three- pointers in a 4- minute, 45- second span, including a Stephen Curry three- pointer that gave the Warriors a 116- 115 lead that they would not relinquish.
“We never feel like we’re out of it,” said Curry, who atoned for seven turnovers with 40 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and three steals. “Whether we’re going to win the game or not, you never know, but the mentality of our team and the way that we play is to play like we’re never out of it and to keep fighting.”
The Clippers ( 6- 5) needed this game, as evidenced by point guard Chris Paul playing through a sore right groin as his team dropped six games back of the Warriors in the Pacific Division. But the Warriors seemed to want it more.
They feel they’ve got a date with history.
They are two wins away from matching the best start in NBA history ( the 1948- 49 Washington Capitols and 1993- 94 Rockets both went 15- 0) and one win from equaling the best start by a defending NBA champion ( the 1957- 58 Celtics were 14- 0).
“It’s a big deal,” Curry said. “… We want to enjoy this. Guys have been in this league for a long, long time, but nobody’s ever been 13- 0 in this locker room. We want to be proud of that.
“You don’t get a trophy for it … but I think we can bottle the way we’re playing, this confidence and this belief that we have throughout the rest of the season and the playoffs.”
Neither team was at full strength. Los Angeles starting shooting guard J. J. Redick sat with back spasms, and the Warriors were without their secondstring backcourt of Shaun Livingston ( hip flexor) and Leandro Barbosa ( illness).
Also, the fierce competitiveness and highlight- reel plays that usually typify the matchup were muted by consistent stoppages for foul calls until the game’s final minutes. In the fourth quarter, the Warriors made 8 of 9 three- point attempts and held power forward Blake Griffin without a field goal.
Harrison Barnes had 21 points and seven rebounds, Thompson added 25 points and Draymond Green fought through foul trouble to record 19 points, six rebounds and nine assists. They were all playing second fiddle to Curry, who had 13 points in 8 ½ fourth- quarter minutes.
Curry “was terrible tonight, wasn’t he?” Warriors interim head coach Luke Walton said. “I don’t know how we win with him on the court. No, he is incredible. Every time we needed a big bucket, he was making plays.
“The bigger the moment, the more I’m confident he’s going to make the play.”
The superhuman effort was needed by Curry, because the Clippers had some performances that verged on the supernatural. Paul had a team- high 35 points, to go with eight assists, four rebounds and three steals, and Griffin got Green in foul trouble while putting up 27 points, six rebounds and five assists.
By the end of the first quarter, the Warriors trailed 41- 25 and had given up an average of 34 points in their past three first quarters. Austin Rivers extended the Clippers’ advantage to 55- 32 with a three- pointer at the 7: 26 mark of the second quarter, but the Warriors weren’t quite ready to start thinking about Friday’s home game against Chicago.
Green’s buzzer- beating three- pointer at the end of the third quarter trimmed the Warriors’ deficit to 91- 85 — the closest the score had been since the Clippers led 19- 13 at the 7: 01 mark of the first quarter. The Warriors trailed 98- 95 when Curry reentered the game with 8: 31 to play, but they found themselves in a 10295 hole 32 seconds later on consecutive dunks by DeAndre Jordan and Josh Smith.
“That was pretty fun to watch our guys fight back like that,” Walton said. “… They believe in themselves, and they believe in what we’re doing. There was never any panic on our bench.”