Warriors run away from Clippers in second half in Oakland

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Jared Cunningham

Jared Cunningham/Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Clippers

 

Down by just two points at halftime, the Clippers did not have a strong second half and the result was a 125-107 loss Tuesday night at Golden State. The Clippers are now 1-5 in exhibition play with just two games left before the regular season begins Oct. 30 against Oklahoma City.

Leading just 62-60 at the break, the Warriors outscored the Clippers 35-25 in the third quarter to lead by 12 (97-85) heading into the fourth quarter.

Blake Griffin and Chris Paul were given the night off.

Guard Jared Cunningham led the Clippers with 23 points, but he was just 6 of 15 from the field as the Clippers shot just 38.6 percent from the field. J.J. Redick scored 21, also shooting 6 of 15. Spencer Hawes, starting in place of Griffin, scored 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds. And DeAndre Jordan had 13 points, nine rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block; he did most of that damage in the first half.

Matt Barnes’ shooting woes continued. Heading in he had made just 2 of 24 from the field. He went 1 of 7 Tuesday and is now 3 of 31.

Jamal Crawford scored 10 off the bench, but shot just 2 of 8.

Also, Golden State (5-2) not only shot a robust 59 percent – 59.1 percent from 3-pont range (13 of 22) – they outrebounded the Clippers 46-31. The Warriors’ Stephen Curry led everyone with 27 points. Six other Warriors scored in double figures.

Klay Thompson says team probably makes half its 3-point attempts Sunday

With all the hoopla about the 3-point shooting prowess of Golden State Warriors guards Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, they have not been up to par in that department in the first three games of their Western Conference playoff series against the Clippers.

Curry made a league-high 261 3-pointers during the regular season and shot 42.4 percent from beyond the arc. Thompson made 223 3-pointers and shot 41.7 percent.

In three playoff games, Thompson (7 of 20) has made 35 percent and Curry has shot only 28.6 percent (6 of 21).

Furthermore, the team as a whole is shooting 27.3 percent from 3-point range compared to 38 percent during the season.

The Warriors connected on only 6 of 31 3-pointers in Thursday’s 98-96 loss to the Clippers at Oracle Arena in Oakland that gave the Clippers a 2-1 series lead. The biggest miss was Curry’s at the end.

Thompson believes that will all change Sunday when the teams square off in Game 4 at Oracle Arena.

“I would say a bad shooting night,” Thompson said, when asked to what he attributed Thursday’s 6-for-31 team performance. “I had some great wide-open looks from the corners. When I see Stephen release them, I think that’s a layup, and we just barely missed them. But great shots, we got good shots. Six-for-31 for (3s) is uncharacteristic for us. We probably hit half on Sunday.”

The Clippers, by the way, are beating the Warriors at their own game. They shot 35.2 percent from 3-point range during the regular season. They are shooting 40 percent in the the playoff series.

Shuttle driver: Dell Curry good at golf, son Stephen is even better

From what I just heard from a nice guy who picked me up in a Courtyard Marriott shuttle from the airport in Oakland, Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors is quite the golfer.

As the story goes, said driver was “lucky” enough to be paired with former NBA player Dell Curry, father of Stephen, in an area golf tournament. The driver said that the elder Curry can really hit the ball a long way.

When the driver told Dell Curry that, Dell told him that his son is even better.

By the way, Game 3 is Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at Oracle Arena.

Stephen Curry responds to NBA statement that Chris Paul was fouled by Draymond Green

There has been lots of talk about that play with 18.9 seconds left to play in Saturday’s playoff opener between the visiting Golden State Warriors and the Clippers at Staples Center.

Chris Paul had the ball for the Clippers and was trying to get around a corner so he could drive to the basket. Draymond Green came over and fouled Paul, who lost the ball out of  bounds. The only problem is, the foul wasn’t called. There was a review of the play, but not for the purposes of whether a foul had been committed as that is not reviewable. It was to see who touched the ball last and it was Paul, the ball  being award to the Warriors, who were up by two points on their way to a 109-105 victory.

The NBA on Sunday issued a statement that said while officials properly reviewed what was reviewable, Paul was indeed fouled and he should have been awarded two free throws.

Stephen Curry, one of the Warriors’ two 3-point-shooting guards, reacted to the NBA’s statement at practice Sunday at UCLA.

“The ref was standing there and he made a judgement call,” Curry said of the non-call on the foul by Green. “The replay was in our favor. Refereeing, there’s nothing perfect about that. They make mistakes every once in a while and I’m sure during the course of the game, they could go back and admit they were bad calls. That was just a crucial moment in the game. I don’t like it myself. It takes away what we did as a team by mulling what could’ve happened.”