Cleveland ended a two-game losing streak and avenged a double-overtime loss in Milwaukee on Saturday night. Green had 19 points and nine assists, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of the third to cut the Clippers’ lead to six points. The Clippers were still up by 10 points at that point.
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The Warriors were 11 of 15 from the field in the fourth, when they made 9 of 10 free throws and outrebounded Los Angeles 11-6. Greg Monroe scored 17 points, and Khris Middleton added 15 for Milwaukee.
Last season’s MVP Steph Curry again top scored for Golden State with 40 points and 11 rebounds as Harrison Barnes supplied 21 points and the Warriors extended their unbeaten run to start the season to 13 games. It was Golden State’s 14th win without a loss, one short of the best season start first established by the Washington Capitols of 1948-49 and equaled by the Houston Rockets in 1993-94.
Jimmy Butler – who scored a game-high 32 points on Wednesday night – will likely guard Stephen Curry at times on Friday, but there’s only so much that the $95 million man can do in 48 minutes (pending another overtime thriller between the two teams).
“No matter how bad we’re playing, we always feel like we have a shot”, said Curry, who also pulled down 11 rebounds. G Leandro Barbosa returned from the flu a night earlier and G Shaun Livingston played for the first time in three games after being sidelined with a strained left hip flexor.
Curry put the Warriors back ahead for good with his sixth 3-pointer, and Iguodala tossed an inbound pass to Draymond Green for a layup. “But I know this and I agree with Steve that we need to watch his minutes”.
The Clippers led 112-102 with 5:05 remaining, but just as they did earlier this month, they let the lead slip away to the Warriors. “I don’t think it started in the fourth quarter, I really don’t”, Rivers said.
Curry hit a 3 for the Warriors’ lone lead of the first three quarters before things quickly turned sour for their star shooter. Other goals – like the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls’ record of 72 regular-season wins and a second straight championship – exist further down the road for the Warriors, who deployed their small-ball lineup in the fourth quarter of back-to-back games against the Los Angeles Clippers and Chicago Bulls this week to turn deficits into wins.
“We haven’t brought it up at all yet, but we’re close enough now”, interim coach Luke Walton said. “When it’s like that, you’ve got a shot at winning”.
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Chris Bosh led the Miami Heat past the Sacramento Kings 116-109 as DeMarcus Cousins sat out due to a one-game suspension.
