Warriors’ late comeback falls short in loss to Clippers – The Mercury News

On November 19, 2024By Littum

LOS ANGELES — So far this season, the Clippers have been a thorn in the Warriors’ side.

Ty Lue’s Clippers have handed the Warriors two of their three losses on the season.

On Monday night in the Intuit Dome, the Clippers shot just as well from 3 as the Warriors did from the foul line. Los Angeles forced 19 turnovers, repeating their performance from their first matchup.

An impressive third quarter wasn’t enough to make up for a sluggish first half for the Warriors, who couldn’t send the game into overtime with two late 3-point attempts. Golden State (10-3) nearly came back but fell in the end, 102-99.

Steph Curry scored a game-high 26 points and outplayed James Harden (12 points, 16 assists), but the Warriors left too many points on the board to steal a win.

The Clippers forced the Warriors into four turnovers in the first five minutes and repeated their disruptive ball pressure from their first meeting. In that Warriors loss, Golden State committed a season-high 21 turnovers; they are 8-0 on the season when committing 15 or fewer.

Sometimes the Warriors played too fast, sometimes they misunderstood split actions, and sometimes the Clippers deflected inside passes.

Golden State’s bench battled back from an early 12-point deficit and played with more pace and power — especially with Kyle Anderson at small-ball center. Kevon Looney didn’t make the trip due to an illness, so the Warriors needed Anderson to play even more than usual.

In addition to the turnovers that hurt them in the possession game, the Warriors left points on the board from the foul line. Jonathan Kuminga missed his first three free throws and Trayce Jackson-Davis went 0-for-2 in his first outing against “The Wall,” the Intuit Dome’s fan section. Wall or not, the Warriors are dead last in the league in free throw percentage, shooting 9-for-19 in Monday’s game.

When the Warriors’ starters returned midway through the second quarter, they immediately gave up an 11-2 run. Steve Kerr called a timeout as Los Angeles’ lead grew to 50-36. At that point, the Clippers had hit nine of their 15 3-pointers.

After he hit his second 3 of the night, Draymond Green set an illegal screen for the Warriors’ 13th turnover of the first half. Then Norman Powell (23 points) blew by Jonathan Kuminga for a buzzer-beating layup. The Warriors entered the visitors’ locker room at halftime down 11.

But Curry had an answer. After scoring eight points in the first half, he chased shots to start the third quarter. Curry hit a trio of 3s in a span of four minutes to pull the Warriors within five points. The third came on a pass from Jackson-Davis in the corner, with Curry falling out of bounds as he broke free.

Kuminga, Anderson and the bench finished the quarter strong after Curry and Green left, tying the game at 72. The league’s best third quarter won the period 27-19. They cut back on their turnover and pulled stops together.

Carrying that momentum into the fourth proved difficult. The Clippers were prepared to counter the Warriors’ push. Powell answered Lindy Waters III’s 3 with one of his own, keeping Los Angeles’ lead at seven.

Even when Curry dropped a rainbow 3 and snaked his way inside for a finger roll, Harden and Powell responded with five points of their own. Then the Warriors returned to the first half, turning it over three times in a span of two minutes.

The Warriors stayed in it. Los Angeles went to the clogged toilet offense, with James Harden and Norman Powell dribbling scoreless out of the shot clock. Curry and Wiggins scored seven straight points to turn a 10-point deficit into three.

But with a chance to send the game into overtime, Curry and Gary Payton II each missed 3-pointers. The Warriors just couldn’t break through.