Hold off from pressing the panic button on the Warriors

bleacherreport.com photo: The Los Angeles Clippers routed Golden State Warriors, erasing a 31-point deficit in Game 2 at Oracle Arena in Oakland on Monday night. The series moves to Staples Center in Los Angeles for Game 3 on Wednesday night. 

By Joe Hawkes-Beamon
SRS Contributor

OAKLAND, Calif. — The Golden State Warriors were riding high, leading the Los Angeles Clippers 73-50 at halftime.

Warriors point guard Stephen Curry led all scorers with 22 points in the first half on 6-of-9 shooting, 4-of-7 from three, and 6-for-6 from the foul line. But in the second half, Curry scored just seven points.

Then the roof caved in.

Golden State couldn’t hold on to its 31-point lead that they built up in the third quarter after starting the frame scoring 21 points on 9-for-9 shooting off eight assists, and saw the Los Angeles Clippers complete the largest postseason comeback in NBA history by shocking the Warriors, 135-131, to take Game 2 of their first-round series to even the best-of-7 series at one game apiece.

Rookie Landry Shamet hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 16.5 seconds remaining to complete the Clippers’ historic comeback over the Warriors.

The Clippers outscored Golden State 85-58 in the second half. In the third quarter alone, Los Angeles outscored Golden State 44-35. The 44 points were the most in a postseason quarter for Los Angeles.

The series shifts to Los Angeles for Game 3 this Thursday night from Staple Center.

Oh yeah, the Warriors lost center DeMarcus Cousins with what is being reported as a “significant” quad injury for an “extended period of time.”

Cousins injured his left quad muscle after diving to the floor following a steal in the first quarter. Cousins immediately grabbed his left side and limped off the floor and into the locker room.

An MRI for Cousins is scheduled for Tuesday, but it is feared that Cousins will miss the rest of the series if not, the remainder of the Warriors’ playoff run.

Before Warriors fans hit the panic button, let me put you at ease: the Warriors will still win this series. I know that’s not nothing new, but its just reassurance from me.

Sure, the top-seeded Warriors were punched in the mouth by the eighth-seeded Clippers on Monday night behind a career-high 36 points and 11 assists from Lou Williams and 25 points from Montrezl Harrell, but it did take a herculean effort for Los Angeles to take down the two-time defending NBA champions in front of a frenzied, sold out Oracle Arena crowd.

Clippers starting point guard Patrick Beverley, who continues to be the team’s biggest mouthpiece, has clearly made life difficult for Kevin Durant in this series. Beverley has been irritating (in a good way) Durant at every point, and even gotten the two of them ejected from Game 1.

You expect Durant, who had 21 points, five rebound and five assists in Game 2 before fouling out, to bounce back in Game 3. Durant finished with more turnovers (9) than shot attempts (8), but shot 11-of-12 from the free throw line.

Klay Thompson scored 17 points and Draymond Green had 14 points with nine assists.

Golden State committed 21 turnovers in Game 1, then follow up with 22 more on Monday night. The Warriors have been flat out sloppy in protecting the basketball.

When the Warriors protect the basketball and limit the turnovers, they are nearly unbeatable. Golden State got away with that in Game 1, but got caught with their hand in the cookie jar in Game 2.

The Clippers made Golden State pay this time around.

Even in the defeat, one positive the Warriors can take from this loss was the game that backup center Kevon Looney had. After Cousins left the game, Looney played big, finishing with a career-high 19 points and making all six shot attempts.

Looney will most certainly start Game 3 in Cousins’ absence. Looney did make 24 starts this season for the Warriors and will look to build off his breakout performance.

Instead of the projected four-game sweep that everyone penciled for Golden State, the Warriors will end the series in five or six games.

The Clippers exasperated all their energy in securing Game 2 and after stealing a game that they had no business of winning, Los Angeles has gotten the Warriors’ full attention and are beaming with confidence.

That’s not a good thing.

Clippers lead the game wire-to-wire, down the Kings 122-108 on Sunday

Photo @SacramentoKings

By Charlie O. Mallonee

Have you ever had one of those days at the office when you show up and you feel that your rhythm is just a half a beat off? For you “old schoolers,” everyone in the workplace is moving at 45 rpm while you are dragging at 33 1/3 rpm. The was the kind of day the Kings had on Sunday in Los Angeles versus the Clippers as they lost 122-108 to close out their six-game road trip.

Sacramento never held a lead in the game on Sunday. The Clippers largest lead of the game was 25 points. LAC held a 16 point advantage — 67 to 51 — at the half.

The Kings came out in the third quarter playing with improved energy and appeared to ready to make a game of it. In the fourth quarter, Sacramento twice closed within five points of the lead, but the Clippers were able to go a scoring barrage that would allow them to open a lead as large 19 points in the final period to end Kings hopes of a comeback victory.

The victory upped the Clippers’ record to 28-22 for the season while the loss drops the Kings back to .500 on the year at 25-25. The loss dropped the Kings’ record on the road trip to 2-4.

Early Start
The Kings did have to battle an early start in the “City of Angels” on Sunday. Because the Lakers also have a home game scheduled on Sunday at the Staples Center, the Clippers always have to play the early game. That game has to tip-off by 12:30 so the second game can begin by 6:00 PM.

The early start may have been a problem, but then again, this is a young team that should be able to handle time diversity easier than older veterans.

Playoff Picture at Game 50
LAC holds the eighth and final playoff berth in the Western Conference with the win on Sunday. They are 7.5 games behind the conference-leading Warriors. The Clippers have won three consecutive games and are 4-6 in their last 10 games.

Sacramento is in 10th place in the Western Conference 3.0 games behind the Clippers for the final playoff spot in the West. The Kings are now on a one game losing streak and are 5-5 over their last 10 games.

From the Game Book
Kings

Kings starting five Photo: @SacramentoKings

Team Stats

• SAC shot 39.8% (37/93) for the game. NBA teams do not win shooting under 40%
• It was a horrible 3-point shooting night: 8-for-36 (22.2%)
• 44 rebounds – 8 less than LAC
• The Kings recorded just 18 assists. That is not their game. They average 25.8 assists per game
• The team committed 12 turnovers that resulted in 18 points for the Clippers
• Two positives: 12 steals and six blocked shots

Player Stats

• De’Aaron Fox was the Kings’ leading scorer with 21 points. He shot 8-for-16 from the field with one 3-pointer
• Bogdan Bogdanovic came off the bench to put 19 points in the book. He was a monster at the free throw line, converting 8-of-9 opportunities
• Buddy Hield and Iman Shumpert scored 16 points each in the game. Hield went just 2-for-7 from downtown
• Marvin Bagley III did not start, but added 14 points, hitting 5-of-10 shots in the game
• Willie Cauley-Stein flirted with a double-double as he scored nine points and grabbed 12 rebounds

Clippers
Player Stats

Graphic @LAClippers

• Montrezl Harrell came off the bench to score a game-high 25 points. He shot an incredible 11-for-13 for the game
• Tobias Harris scored 18 points, including going 4-for-4 from the charity stripe
• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander put 17 points up on the board by going 7-for-7 from the free throw line
• Patrick Beverly tried to post a triple-double by scoring 16 points, hauling in 10 rebounds and dishing out eight assists

Team Stats

• The Clippers shot 47.7% (42/88) overall versus the Kings
• LAC hit 11-of-29 (37.9%) of their 3-point field goal attempts
• Los Angeles converted 27-of-29 opportunities from the free throw line (93.1%)
• They dished out 35 assists and made just 19 turnovers to very close to that magic 2:1 ratio

Up Next
The Kings return to Sacramento and will host the Atlanta Hawks for the only time this season. Hawks guard Jeremy Lin has been rumored to be a trade prospect for the Kings.

The Clippers will host the Hawks on Monday night at Staples Center.

Warriors dominate Rockets 104-78; Curry suffers ankle injury

Photo Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The juggernaut that is the Golden State Warriors steamrollered the Houston Rockets 104-78 in game one of the NBA Western Conference Playoffs. The Warriors led the game wire-to-wire en route to the win.

The dominate win has been overshadowed by an injury to superstar Stephen Curry. Curry tweaked his right ankle late in the second quarter and had to be taken into the locker room have the ankle re-taped. Curry would return to start the third quarter but played only 2:47 in the period before having to return to the bench.

In his postgame  media conference, Golden State head coach Steve Kerr told reporters that Curry would not have been available to return to the game if Houston would have made a comeback. Kerr went on to say that Curry is questionable for game two on Monday night. In NBA terms, questionable means there is only a 50 percent chance that Curry will play.

Curry was the Warriors leading scorer with 24 points in his limited playing time of 19-plus minutes. Not only would the Warriors miss Curry’s scoring punch but the sight of Curry on the bench could serve as real source of motivation for Houston who do not want to go home down 0-2 in the series.

The Warriors defense was as impressive as their offense. Golden State held the Rockets shooting to just 35.7 percent (30-for-84) from the field. Houston who lives by the creed of “score in the paint or shoot the three” shot just 27.3 percent (6-for-22) from long range.

The Golden State defense kept James Harden off the free throw for the entire game. Harden makes his living driving to the basket and forcing reach-in fouls for opportunities to score from the free throw line.

Kerr told reporters after the game that not reaching in on Harden was major point of emphasis for the Warriors defensive scheme. The plan worked to perfection.

The Golden State defense also caused the Rockets to be sloppy in guarding the basketball. Houston turned the ball over 24 times in the game. The Rockets had more turnovers than assists (16). A negative assists-to-turnover ratio makes it literally impossible to win a game in the NBA.

The Warriors held the Rockets to just eight second-chance points. For comparison, Golden State scored 25 points when give a second chance to score.

There will be much talk about the Warriors outscoring the Rockets by 26 points. The real discussion should be about the Warriors holding the Houston offense to just 78 points.

Warriors

Stephen Curry was the team’s leading scorer with 24 points. Curry went 5-for-7 from 3-point land. He also grabbed seven rebounds, had three steals and dished out two assists in his limited playing time.

As you might have guessed, Klay Thompson helped to fill the gap left by Curry having to leave the game. Thompson scored 16 points but had to take 14 shots to score those points. He was perfect from the free throw line going 6-for-6. Thompson finished with five rebounds, four assists and one steal.

Draymond Green had a double-double game scoring 12 points and recording 10 rebounds. Green led his team in playing time with 33:17 played.

Marreese Speights was the Warriors leading scorer off the bench with 12 points. He shot 5-for-11 from the field.

Andre Iguodala was real force on offense for Golden State coming off the bench to dish out a game-high seven assists.

Rockets

James Harden was the leading scorer for the Rockets with 17 points but he had to take 19 shots to score those points. He was just 3-for-5 from behind the 3-point line. Harden turned the ball over six times.

Dwight Howard was surprisingly a big factor in this game for the Rockets. Howard has experienced a less than stellar season for Houston. He put up a double-double in this game scoring 14 points and grabbing 11 rebounds for his team.

Patrick Beverley was also a surprising non-factor for Houston on Saturday. After a first quarter skirmish with Curry that resulted in off-setting technical fouls, Beverley picked up three personal fouls and was sent to the bench. He played just 5:10 in the second half after picking up his fourth foul. Beverley finished just two points.

What they said after the game

Steve Kerr evaluating how his team played

“…Very satisfied. I thought our defense was excellent. We didn’t reach. We made them earn every point and we did have the brief spell when Steph (Curry) went out where we sort of lost our focus, lost our poise but we quickly recovered, a lot of guys played but it was a good, solid victory.”

Klay Thompson on the intensity of the game

“It did (get chippy). You expect that in the playoffs.No team is going to lay down against us. I’m just happy we didn’t let it phase us. We’ve got a strong group.”

Houston head coach J.B. Bickerstaff on his team’s first half performance

“One of their strengths defensively is their versatility. They do a lot of switching. They have guys who can defend multiple positions. We didn’t do a good enough job making them pay. When they switch, we have to move more. Instead, we moved less which made us easier to guard. They just sat … they has 10 eyes on the ball-handler. We didn’t put enough pressure behind them, move them around enough so our penetraters could penetrate and make plays for other people. This can’t be a one-sided game offensively. The ball has to move. There has to be a thrust to your offense.There has to be early action, early attacks. They’re too good defensively if you don’t.”

Up next

Game two will be played on Monday at 7:30 PM (PDT) in Oakland. The game will be televised on TNT.