What started off as a shooting contest at Crypto.com Arena turned into a one-sided affair in the Warriors’ 119-104 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night.
It looked like it was going to be one of those nights for Steph Curry and the Warriors. Curry started off 6-for-6 from the field and 4-for-4 from deep. The Warriors went 9-for-14 from 3-point range in the first quarter and led 37-34. The hot start wound up being nothing more than a mirage, aside from Steph.
The Warriors ended the night going 16-for-41 from long distance, shooting just 26 percent on 3-point attempts after the first quarter. After scoring 37 points in the opening frame, they combined for only 41 points the next two quarters.
After scoring 33 points, including 16 in the fourth quarter, in Saturday’s win over the Los Angeles Lakers, Klay Thompson was ice-cold two nights later. Thompson made only three of his 14 attempts from the field, and was 1-for-5 on 3-pointers, finishing with seven points.
Terance Mann, who was drafted in the same second round as Eric Paschall and Alen Smailagic, led the Clippers with 25 points and was 11-for-17 from the field.
Here are three takeaways as the Warriors fell to 42-16 on the season.
Clippers, Cupid and Curry
Love is in the air when Curry plays the Clippers. That was clear again Monday night in Southern California.
Curry scored a game-high 33 points. He went 11-for-18 from the field and 8-for-13 from 3. Curry scored 16 points in the first quarter and had 26 at the half. The problem is, it was a one-man show.
At halftime, Thompson was the Warriors’ second-leading scorer with only seven points. He didn’t score again.
It was all Steph, and it was all buckets. While dropping 26 in the first half, he scored the most points in any half without recording an assist, rebound, steal or block by any player since 2015.
Curry has now averaged 37 points in three games against the Clippers this season, and is averaging just under eight 3-pointers in those three games. He now has scored 1,112 career points against LA, his most against any opponent.
Bully Ball
Clippers center Ivica Zubac entered Monday night averaging 9.4 points and 7.9 rebounds per game this season. Against the Warriors, the 7-footer scored 18 points, went 8-for-10 from the field, grabbed eight rebounds and was a plus-13. Zubac’s 18 points are tied for his second-most this season.
Now imagine what Nikola Jokic might do Wednesday night at Chase Center.
The Warriors were out-rebounded by five boards and allowed 54 points in the paint against the Clippers. It’s great that Kevon Looney has played, and started, every Warriors game this season. Nobody needs the All-Star break more.
Corner Clippers
The Warriors’ defense right now is facing more issues than just being smaller than everybody else. They’re now getting crushed for trying to make up for losing the size battle.
As Zubac and the Clippers owned the paint, the Warriors then over-played the ball down low, leaving shooters wide-open in the corners. The Clippers made eight 3-pointers from the corner and were a perfect 6-for-6 from the field from the right corner, including five 3-pointers.
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This is again where Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala are missed. It’s an injury issue, it’s a fatigue issue and a coaching point that will have to be addressed in the near future and during the upcoming break.
