Clippers ‘Wall’ off Warriors for 102-99 win

A furious Warriors rally fell short in the final seconds after a mistake-filled first half put them in too deep of a hole

Down 10 points with 2:30 to go, the Golden State Warriors looked like they were headed to their third loss of the season, and their second to the Los Angeles Clippers. Seven points and 2:18 later, the Warriors had two looks at a game-tying three but couldn’t get a shot to go down in a 102-99 loss

Ultimately the Warriors dug themselves too big of a hole with too many mistakes leading up to their final flurry. For a team that has the NBA’s No. 4 offense, they’re middle-of-the-pack in turnovers and are the worst free-throw shooting team in the league, despite having the best free throw shooter in NBA history. Both of those weaknesses were costly Monday, as the Warriors missed 10 of their 19 free throws and turned the ball over 19 times.

The costliest mistake may have been a last-millisecond foul to end the third quarter, when Buddy Hield hit Amir Coffey behind the arc with 0.1 seconds remaining, and Coffey proceeded to make all three of his free throws to give the Clippers a 75-72 lead and sap the Warriors’ momentum.

Steph Curry led the Warriors with 26 points, shooting 6-for-15 from three-point range. Andrew Wiggins had 22 points and went 6-for-8 from the line, a mark that looked Curry-esque compared to his teammates. Draymond Green had a near-triple-double but actual triple-single with 9 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists, along with his usual stellar defense, but led the team with 6 turnovers. Brandin Podziemski, Jonathan Kuminga, and Trayce Jackson-Davis combined to shoot 2-for-9 on free throws, a rough stat for a game that was decided by a single basket.

Late in the 4th, the game looked like it was over when Green threw the ball out of bounds and it led to Norman Powell’s fifth three-pointer and James Harden’s 16th assist gave the Clips a 102-92 lead.

But in a situation where the Warriors couldn’t make any mistakes on defense, they didn’t. Wiggins hit a three and the Warriors forced a miss, then Curry drove for a layup that cut the lead in half. The Clippers turned it over, and after a blocked layup, Harden badly missed a stepback three, which Green turned into an easy layup for Wiggins and the lead was 102-99.

Payton got a steal to give the Warriors a final chance to tie, but after Curry’s miss and a clutch rebound by Green, GPII may have inadvertently intercepted a pass to sharpshooter Lindy Waters III. He got a clean look but missed, and the Clippers escaped.

One of the signature features of the Los Angeles Clippers’ new arena, the Intuit Dome, is a fan section called The Wall! To sit in The Wall!, you need to get certified as a fan, and can’t wear opposing team apparel or cheer for the other team, or you get kicked out. The section stands together, cheers together, and overall tries to make whoever the Clippers play feel very uncomfortable.

Did that affect the Golden State Warriors? During the first half, it may well have. Facing the vanguard of Clipper Nation in the first half, the Warriors committed 13 turnovers and missed 6 free throws. The Clippers defenders played like they had the wingpsan of Chuck the Condor, knocking away passes and generally disrupting everything the Warriors tried to do on offense.

Still, the Warriors hung in with strong defense and some Trayce Jackson-Davis dunks.

After the Clippers pushed their lead to 15 points, the Warriors shrunk the lead to 9 points with back-to-back threes from Green and Curry. They forced a James Harden miss on a stepback — he shot 4-for-15, though he led the offense masterfully

In the third quarter, the Warriors got back into the game in a big way. While they trailed by as much as 15 points in the second quarter, a three-point surge in the third got the team back on track. Andrew Wiggins made a three-pointer and Steph Curry made two, with Trayce Jackson-Davis assisting on two of the buckets.

Curry returned the favor by finding TJD for his own layup, and it was a one-possession game. Four minutes later, Jonathan Kuminga hit a triple and then found Buddy Hield for a three-pointer that tied the game at 72-72.

Then Coffey made his trio of free throws. A minute later, Coffey returned the favor by fouling Brandin Podziemski behind the arc, and he made one of three. That’s the kind of game it was for the Warriors.

The most important player on the floor for the Clippers Monday night was Ivica Zubac, one of the small number of centers that made the Warriors feel the absence of the ill Kevon Looney. Without the Ground-Bound Mound of Rebound there to battle with Zubac, the Clippers center had eight points and 17 rebounds, as well as four assists. In the 36 minutes Zubac was on the floor, the Clippers outscored the Warriors by 21 points. In the 12 minutes where the big man sat, the Warriors were +18.

Perhaps they could have attacked the big man more if they were more confident about making free throws. Perhaps a few layups and putbacks rimmed out. Or maybe it simply wasn’t the Warriors’ night. Still, it was an encouraging comeback and the team showed a lot of heart. If only the box score showed a few more made free throws.