They survived the 38-point onslaught of Stephen Curry, who had 38 points and hit nine 3-pointers. They shut down Klay Thompson, who scored 38 on Wednesday but had only seven shots.
They didn’t back down and they kept their composure at the same, and the Clippers rolled to a 126-115 win over Golden State in their home opener at Staples Center Thursday.
Chris Paul simply took over with his 42 points – one shy of his career high – along with 15 assists and six steals. No one has recorded a line like that in the NBA since 1985-86.
“He was awesome,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. “I thought he did a good job running the team and demanding guys get into their sets. I thought that was important for us.”
In an emerging rivalry, the clubs did have one dust-up in the second quarter. Golden State center Anderw Bogut fouled DeAndre Jordan hard for a foul, and then the two exchanged shoves and picked up technical fouls.
“Both teams want to go somewhere,” Rivers said. “Golden State was so close last year to winning the title. We just want to jump into that category. Both teams had an urgency about it. I liked the intensity.
“When nothing sidetracks you and just keep playing, that’s what I was proud of. When we got the lead and all of a sudden things started getting chippy, we were able to keep our composure and keep playing. That’s a really good sign for us. That’s toughness.”
Blake Griffin had 23 points and 10 rebounds in a performance that Rivers called “dominant,” and J.J. Redick scored 17. Jordan had nine points and 17 rebounds to lead the Clippers to a 44-33 rebounding edge.
Jamal Crawford had 10 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter.