The Clippers fend off Steph Curry and the Warriors in a thrilling victory

The two best sharpshooters in NBA history came out on Monday night – Clippers three-point king James Harden and Golden State long-range wonder Stephen Curry, bringing a high level of excitement to the Intuit Dome.

They had a crowd-pleasing moment in the first quarter when Harden made a three-pointer only for Curry to follow up with a three on the next possession.

For the Clippers, their focus was on slowing down a potent Warriors offense and stopping Curry, who entered the game with the most three-pointers in NBA history with 3,782.

The Clippers met their goals on defense and held off the Warriors just enough to earn a thrilling 102-99 victory that wasn’t sealed until the final buzzer.

Clippers guard Terance Mann shoots over Golden State Warriors forward Lindy Waters III in the first half Monday.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

After the Clippers’ 10-point lead was cut to three, a costly turnover in the final seconds nearly sent the game into overtime.

Golden State’s Gary Payton II stole the ball from Norman Powell with 21 seconds left. But Curry, who had 26 points and was 6 for 15 from three-point range, missed a three-pointer and Payton missed another three-point attempt with less than two seconds left to seal the Clippers’ second win over Golden State (10 – 3) this season.

Both teams struggled with turnovers – the Clippers had 20 and the Warriors 19.

Powell led the Clippers with 23 points, including five three-pointers. Harden had 12 points but was four for 15 from the field and two for six from three-point range.

Clippers coach Tyronn Lue knew the Warriors would put a lot of stress on his defense. The Warriors entered Monday averaging 121.3 points per game, third most in the NBA.

“I think you share the basketball, I think you move without the basketball, the open guy gets the ball, all the backs cut,” Lue said. “(Curry) causes a lot of that confusion because when he comes off the screen, everybody’s antennae are up, but you just can’t lose sight of what you have to do defensively … .So we just have to be disciplined.”

Even with Harden taking sole possession of the second-most three-pointers in league history (2,975) entering the game, the Clippers (8-7) aren’t all about scoring feats. They pride themselves on being defensively skilled.

“Their defense is really good,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said before the game. “Ty and (assistant) Jeff (Van Gundy) do a great job. They have added some really impactful defenders. So we have to be a much more disciplined team tonight.”

The Clippers played well defensively in the first half, holding them to 45 points on 44.7% shooting, including 33.3% on threes. They took advantage of 13 turnovers by the Warriors to build an 11-point halftime lead despite committing 11 turnovers.

etc.: Kawhi Leonard continues to deal with inflammation in his right knee and is out indefinitely. “He’s out all week,” Lue said.

When asked to describe what Leonard has been able to do, Lue said, “shoot a little bit.”