The Golden State Warriors knew they faced their toughest test of the season going into their game against the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday night. They were playing a Clippers team sans Kawhi Leonard, and yes, it was their first home game of the season. However, the Dubs expected their first difficult game of the season after thrashing the Utah Jazz on Friday night and defeating the Portland Trail Blazers in their season opener. And they received precisely that.
The game began with the Dubs flipping the script, which is ironic. Golden State’s only vulnerability, despite their two landslide victories, has been the start of the game, as their new starting lineup has had trouble finding rhythm. But in this one, there were no such conflicts. Steph Curry drained a three on their first offensive possession, and they forced a stop on their first defensive possession of the game. The Warriors responded with six points in a row, despite the Clippers scoring seven points in a row. The huge starting lineup, which has had trouble with spacing, was getting solid shots from beyond the arc, but Ivica Zubac was hurting them on the interior.
The Warriors were ahead 17–13 after a solid quarter by Andrew Wiggins. The starting five were able to play for seven minutes, and Steve Kerr didn’t have to use his bench as frequently because of their excellent play.
After that, the teams engaged in a fun, frantic game of back and forth. Derrick Jones Jr. was feasting for the Clippers, and James Harden was dishing alongside him while the Warriors were pushing whenever they could. With the score deadlocked 34-34 at the end of the quarter, we all took a breath.
After then, things took a turn for the worse and never really recovered.
The Dubs had a terrible start to the second quarter, behind an all-bench team. A Kerr timeout resulted after LA scored the first seven points of the frame. The Warriors turned the ball over four times before they managed to score, and their run ended at 9-0 before they finally managed to score.
The Warriors countered with an 8-0 run at the eight-minute mark, forcing a Clippers timeout. Buddy Hield interrupted the run with a jumper and then added a four-point play shortly after. Golden State’s defense was becoming tighter, but Zubac was still controlling the Warriors on the glass. Until it wasn’t. As the Warriors kept turning the ball over, the Clippers went on their own 8-0 run. Golden State went on a 7-0 run after LA had stretched it to an 11-point lead with almost two and a half minutes left. It was a quarter of runs!
For the first time this season, the Warriors lost a quarter, but the Clippers improved their runs and led 59-54 at the half.
The difficulties began to approach a catastrophe in the third quarter. The Warriors got off to a poor start once more, with four early turnovers and a Gregg Popovichian timeout by Kerr very early on. With his outstanding frame, Wiggins once again led the charge as the offense began to find its footing. However, it was a back-and-forth game because the Warriors were being closely matched by LA’s attack, which was once more led by Jones, Harden, and Zubac. The game appeared to be decided by a score of 4–9 points, but then things took a turn for the worst when Curry sustained an injury that nobody wanted to see.
Curry went to the bench in obvious discomfort after rolling his ankle, where trainer Rick Celebrini worked on him while Curry applied a resistance band. The Dubs responded with a 6-0 run, but Norman Powell ended the run with a crucial three-pointer to give LAC an 86-79 lead. Meanwhile, LA had moved the advantage back to double digits. For the Warriors, it would be their first competitive fourth quarter of the season.
Although they had several nice looks at the beginning of the last frame, the shots weren’t dropping. Kerr called a timeout with precisely eight minutes remaining, and the Clippers led by ten as LA increased their advantage back to double figures. When the timeout was up, everyone was relieved to see that Curry was checking back in.
The good news didn’t last long. Curry set a screen after rolling his ankle a few seconds after returning. The Warriors declared him out of the game due to a sprained left ankle, and he exited the game right away, limping to the locker room.
Curry’s injury wasn’t something Golden State wanted to be in vain. They put up quite a fight in response to their star’s departure. With almost four minutes remaining, Golden State was within a point after a 10-run Warriors surge was completed by a Wiggins three. A blocked Buddy Hield jumper was bookended by field goals from Harden and Powell as the Clippers responded with a decisive sequence of their own.
The Warriors would continue to fight after that, but their offensive firepower was insufficient. They would lose 112-104 because they were unable to restrict Zubac and the shots didn’t fall.
The Warriors were powered by Wiggins’ outstanding performance, as he finished with 29 points on 11-for-15 shooting, including 5 for 8 from beyond the arc. Only three other Warriors, however, would score in double figures: Kevon Looney scored 10, Jonathan Kuminga scored 12, and Curry scored 18. The Dubs were harassed by LA’s aggressive defense, which turned the ball over a staggering 21 times… while only dishing out 19 assists, despite the offense appearing fluid and flawless in the first two games and during the preseason. It is a small marvel that they were still in the game in the final minutes after losing Curry to injury and having more turnovers than assists.
Harden concluded with 23 points and 11 assists, despite his bad shooting and five turnovers, while Zubac dominated Golden State, finishing with 23 points, 17 rebounds, and six assists. With 20 points from Powell and 18 from Jones, LA’s starting lineup defeated Golden State 86-65.
Before playing the New Orleans Pelicans for a back-to-back on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Warriors will now have a day off. With Kerr stating after the game that the sprain is “mild or moderate” and that the two-time MVP will have an MRI tonight, all eyes will be on Curry until then.
I’m crossing my fingers.