The Golden State Warriors will host the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night in a matchup of two 4-0 teams with championship aspirations. As Stephen Curry said in a post-game interview with ESPN’s J.A. Adande, they’re even better than they were a year ago. “We answered the bell”.
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The defending champs won each of their first four games by an average of 25 points – all against playoff teams. Barnes finished with 17 points and Klay Thompson added 16. We took our L and we kept it moving, right?
He doesn’t like to put too much into any one singular game, but even he acknowledges there’s something a little extra these days between the Clippers and Warriors.
Barnes hit a pair of 3-pointers to start the spurt. Yes, the Warriors are a ball sharing club, and they’re all steering this ship together, but Captain Curry is no doubt the fearless leader. He raised his arms to the crowd after a 27-footer made it 103-99.
A amusing thing happened after Paul picked up his fourth foul early in the third quarter and went to the bench with his team trailing by eight points: The Clippers somehow started to play better. Attempting almost 11 three-pointers per contest, Curry is shooting an astonishing 51.9 percent from behind the arc.
The reigning league MVP was phenomenal in the final quarter, living up to his moniker “babyface assassin”. Of the 30 total points that the Warriors scored in that final 12 minutes, Curry attributed to 13 of those including two clutch free throws late that increased their lead to four points and essentially killing off the game.
In the history of the National Basketball Association, these are the teams that have had consecutive seasons with 5-0 starts: 1963-64 and 1964-65 Boston Celtics; 1966-67 and 1967-68 Philadelphia 76ers; 1993-94 and 1994-95 Houston Rockets; 1995-96 and 1996-97 Chicago Bulls. Jordan shot 5 of 6 and is 19 for 23 from the floor this season. If their rematch with the Warriors is the basis of who has the true MVP, Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry takes this one by a mile.
Starting center Andrew Bogut has been sidelined since the season opening game with a concussion but he was at the morning shoot around for the Warriors and may return on Wednesday.
These rampaging Warriors are more than Curry, absolutely.
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While a few players have closed in on James over the years he’s been holding the top spot all by himself since 2010 making this the first real threat to him relinquishing his place as the best player in the game. After preserving a strained right groin that’s frivolous John did not perform the ultimate 13 seconds. Rivers said he did not believe the injury was serious but he didn’t want to take any risks. You could keep yourself ignorant to the reality staring you in the face, which is that, no matter what you do, this entity (like a horror movie demon) will never stop until you are defeated.
