After both teams' hot starts to the NBA regular season, the matchup between the L.A. Clippers and the Golden State Warriors will play their first game of the season tonight at Staples Center. While it can hardly be called a rivalry right now with the Warriors winning six consecutive games over the Clippers, both teams know this is a big game.
L.A. fell in their last home game Sunday night to the Indiana Pacers while Golden State put up 142 points in a victory over Indiana led by Klay Thompson‘s career high 60 points on 21-33 from the field, 8-14 from three-point range, and 10/11 from the free throw line. The performance became instantly more amazing with the realization that Thompson did it in just 29 minutes and 11 dribbles while having possession of the ball for about 90 seconds the entire game.
If anyone on this Clippers team knows what it's like to score in bunches like Thompson has throughout his career, it's guard Jamal Crawford. Back in January 2007, Crawford went off for a career high 52 points on 20-30 shooting from the field, 8-10 from downtown and 4-4 from the free throw line.
During Tuesday morning's practice in their two day break, the first the Clippers have had in over 6 weeks, Crawford said Thompson easily could have gone for 80 if the game was close.
“That was amazing and he was on pace for 80. If you look at the first, second, and third quarter, they were all basically averaging out to 20 point quarters.
“The fun thing about it is when guys understand that moment – people around them understand that moment – they want to keep him going. They want to keep him aggressive and it's fun to watch even as a basketball fan.”
Even coach Doc Rivers was impressed by the scorching Thompson, knowing that in two days, he'd have to find a way to stop him along with their other two leading scorers in Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry.
“It was unbelievable. It was awesome. Klay is the most combustible on that team. Durant is good every night, Curry does the same thing, but it just seems like over the last couple years, Klay's the one that – when he explodes, he explodes.
“The team saw it. Usually the team gets in the way of a guy having big nights and it's fun when a team can recognize it and allow him to have that night. They recognized him and they couldn't get him the ball enough. The coolest thing is that he only had the ball for 88 seconds for the game. That.. That's remarkable.
By the end of third quarter, Golden State held an 83-116 lead. At that point, Crawford admitted it's better to end your night as opposing to padding your stats.
“You want to keep playing, but you have to have respect for the game as well. In that instance, personally, you'd want to keep playing because you feel like you could kick it up there sometimes and it might go in, but when you're up 30-35 points, you gotta be respectful for the game. It's a tough balance but as a competitor individually you want to play but you understand the big picture.”
Rivers had a similar take on sitting a star player when up big in the fourth quarter, but his take was more of a coach's view than a player's.
“No, he should have sat. That's just bad form. If you keep him in and steps on someone's foot and sprains his ankle, then Steve Kerr [goes] nuts. he had to come out and the thing I love is that Klay didn't complain. He didn't complain at all and I thought that was a good thing for him. That showed a lot about Klay, to me, that he came out.”
The Clippers lost all four matchups to the Warriors last year by an average of 7.5 points per game. In the two matchups with forward Blake Griffin, L.A. lost by four and seven, respectively. Without Griffin, L.A. lost by three and 16, respectively.
The Clippers' significant offseason additions this year in Marreese Speights and Raymond Felton alongside the resigning of Crawford and Austin Rivers, is ready for the challenge that is the Western Conference. Add a healthy as well as refocused Griffin, and L.A. is right back into championship contention with the likes of the Warriors, Cavs, and Spurs. They've already beaten Cleveland and San Antonio decisively this season. However, taking down the Warriors and their seemingly unstoppable offense is an even tougher challenge.
“That's the million dollar question,” said Crawford on how to stop the Warriors. “Because they have three guys who can go off like that and they've all proven that over the course of their career. Nobody is just going to stop those guys, but if you can make things tough for them and try to limit the other guys, that's the important thing. That's the recipe.”
For coach Rivers, the mindset is the same as any other game,
“You just guard them. They're no different from anyone else. They're just really good, they're good shooters. If I've learned anything in this league, it's when you start changing stuff, then you're going to get destroyed against whoever that is.”
We'll see how the Clippers come out tonight against the Warriors in a matchup everyone will be watching.
Follow Us
Subscribe