The Golden State Warriors managed to ride the hot hand of Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant to win a close Game 4. They are now up 3-1 in their series against the L.A. Clippers after a heart-thumping 113-105 victory on Sunday afternoon.

The back-to-back defending champions were able to withstand a poor shooting night from Stephen Curry, along with his foul trouble, but there are plenty of other factors that helped the Warriors prevail. The Dubs are now Oakland-bound for Game 5 at Oracle Arena. If they win, they can close out the series and avoid an extra plane flight in the first round.

Here are 5 Clutch Points from Game 4.

Klay-splosion?

Klay Thompson had been largely dormant this series, failing to score more than 17 points in each of the first three games. The Warriors' flamethrower came out firing, sinking his first seven shots of the game to finish the first quarter with 17 points and the first half with 27.

His confidence was evident in a slight kneel-and-pose after hitting his seventh consecutive shot of the game to give the Warriors a six-point lead.

As usual, the Warriors forgot about Thompson in the third quarter. He scored no points in the period and took only one shot before departing at the 4:16 mark of the quarter.

The marksman caught fire once again in the fourth, hitting two clutch jumpers in the opening minutes. A wing three and another jumper kept Golden State's second unit afloat.

Thompson had only one rebound and no other statistical contributions for the game, but his defense was solid as usual, taking on several Clippers guards and switching onto Danilo Gallinari.

Ice-Cold Steph

Stephen Curry had the first point of this Game 4 with a technical free throw, but he missed his first six shots of the game, struggling to find his groove the entire afternoon.

Coming off three solid performances, Curry started the game missing good looks. He attempted to shoot himself back into this contest by taking increasingly more difficult shots, lacking the rhythm and space to make them fall.

If his shooting woes weren't enough, the two-time MVP once again struggled with foul trouble, picking up his first two fouls by the 5:36 mark of the first quarter. Steph tested Steve Kerr's faith in what has been a lackluster level of defensive discipline in this series.

Curry tested his coach again, picking up his third foul by bumping into a stationary JaMychal Green, but he did not pick up his fourth until the dying seconds of regulation. Curry has racked up four or more fouls in each game of this series.

Steve Kerr called out Curry's poor reaching habits after he played only 20 foul-plagued minutes in Game 3, but he stressed that those tendencies can be hard to break at this point of the season. Kerr even noted Curry had written “no” and “reach” in his shoes as a reminder of what to do when taking the floor.

It seems it will take more than just mental and handwritten notes for this habit to go away.

Kevin Durant & Draymond Green: The Stabilizers

Durant's offensive output wasn't as stamped onto this game as it was in Game 3, but his presence and shot-making ability were vital to the Warriors' attempt to weather the storm when the Clippers took a five-point lead in the third quarter (their biggest lead of the series).

The Clippers made the adjustment of taking Patrick Beverley off Durant and instead opted to start JaMychal Green instead of Ivica Zubac at center to give them a more spry and mobile lineup.

It didn't work.

Durant was an equal opportunity abuser, welcoming any defensive matchup and making the right reads, as his stat line of (a game-high) 33 points, seven rebounds, six assists, and a steal reflected.

Shots like this one are why the Warriors are glad to have Durant around. His four-point play before the half kept the Clippers from going into the locker room with massive momentum.

In that same way, Draymond Green was the catalyst behind Golden State's defensive prowess, making his presence felt at the end of the game with clutch stops after starter Andrew Bogut fouled out.

Green has notably slimmed down. His light-foot transition game has been symbolic of the Defensive Player of the Year title back two seasons ago. The undersized forward claims he makes his name in the postseason. So far, that claim has checked out just fine, giving Kerr all the confidence to close the game with a Hamptons 5 lineup that has gotten the job done the last few postseasons.

Luck of the Rook?

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander gave Klay Thompson a run for his money during the first quarter. His 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting kept the Clippers in the game through the early stretch.

The rookie point man had a boldly efficient game, putting up a team-high 25 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the floor, 3-of-5 from deep, and 4-of-4 from the foul line to pace his eighth-seeded Clippers.

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L.A. needed SGA to stay in this game, since Danilo Gallinari had yet another nightmare outing, missing his first eight shots and shooting 5-of-20 from the floor against the defending champs.

The lethal bench tandem of Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell didn't have the usual impact of the previous three games, combining for only 22 points on 7-of-18 shooting.

Gilgeous-Alexander scored 18 points in Game 1, but vanished in the next two, scoring four and seven points, respectively. It would be wise to keep an eye on the rookie guard, considering he could be a wild card in Game 5 at Oracle Arena.

The bench holds on

While bench play has been questionable for the Warriors during the regular season, the main cogs stepped up when it counted. Andre Iguodala's play was the catalyst in keeping a single-digit lead early in the fourth quarter.

Klay Thompson's wing 3-pointer gave the Warriors a brief lead (90-86), but it was an Iguodala slam that opened up the sea for the visitors, who took control of this series with two wins at Staples Center.

The second unit, comprised of Shaun Livingston, Alfonzo McKinnie, Andrew Bogut, Thompson, and Iguodala, managed to hold onto a six-point lead before Kevin Durant checked in at the 8:43 mark, giving the Warriors a reliable isolation scorer.

The Warriors went starter-heavy after two full days of rest following Thursday's Game 3. Thompson played 40 minutes and Durant 37 through this grind-out matchup, the lowest-scoring one of the series.

Bench play will prove pivotal down the stretch in Game 5, especially considering the potency of the Clippers' second-unit barrage led by Williams and Harrell.