Considering they were down by 17 points in the second quarter to the defending champion Golden State Warriors on Wednesday at Oracle Arena in Oakland, where just two nights earlier the Warriors demolished Memphis by 50 points, one would think the L.A. Clippers might look at their eventual 112-108 loss as a moral victory of sorts.
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Reigning MVP guard Stephen Curry has unsurprisingly been the catalyst, leading his team in scoring in each of the first four games, with 25 or more points in every contest. The Clippers come in after a win against the Suns and they came back in that game after being down in the second half and now they will try and get another win against the Warriors. It’s worth mentioning this is a Grizzlies team that went to the conference semis just past year. “We have got off to a better start and we are a more composed”. The four wins have come against the three teams the Warriors beat to reach the National Basketball Association Finals last season in the Grizzlies, New Orleans Pelicans and Houston Rockets. The Los Angeles Clippers are winning with their defense, as they’re allowing 31.4 percent shooting from deep and have won 10 straight regular season games when allowing less than 100 points. For that, the Los Angeles Clippers should take solace.
The matchup between the Clippers and Warriors was touted as the hottest rivalry in the NBA and was played to a national TV audience, but the only bad blood fans saw was a small skirmish that resulted in a double technical foul on Chris Paul and Draymond Green.
LeBron James took over the game in the fourth quarter, finishing with 23 points and five rebounds as the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the NY Knicks 96-86. He scored 13 in the fourth quarter, though, hitting all three of his long-distance attempts to help the Warriors overcome a 10-point deficit. Curry knocked down four three-pointers in the quarter.
DeAndre Jordan had 11 points and 13 rebounds, J.J.
“I’ve seen a lot of top 10 countdowns where that exact same play happened and it didn’t end well for the guy under the basket”, Ezeli said. “We’re not going to blow everybody out this year”.
“It would have been encouraging if we won”, shooting guard J.J. Redick said.
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In Atlanta, two teams heading in opposite directions continued on their respective paths Wednesday. The Golden State Warriors are averaging 119 points on 48.5 percent shooting and allowing 94 points on 38 percent shooting. The Hawks improved to 5-1. We make those shots, you say it’s great offense.
