LOS ANGELES â The Los Angeles Clippers continue to win games without Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. They'd already beaten LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers as well as Kevin Durant and the Brooklyn Nets. This time, Tyronn Lue's club took down Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors.
Behind 25 points from Terance Mann, tying a regular-season career-high mark, the Clippers defeated the Warriors, 119-104. It wasn't easy as the Clippers were forced to weather a Stephen Curry flurry just minutes into the game. Curry went for 16 first-quarter points and finished with 26 points in the first half on 9-of-11 shooting from the field.
Curry finished with 33 points as the Clippers opened a 25-point fourth-quarter lead that quickly ended the two-time MVP's night. Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue was asked by ClutchPoints about defending Curry while also constantly putting him in actions on the other end of the floor.
âI mean, he's so dangerous, probably the most dangerous player in the league, the way he can get hot and score the basketball,â Tyronn Lue said after the Clippers' first win over the Warriors this season. âSo we gotta make him work on both ends, and try to get him in foul trouble if we can, try to wear him down, try to hit him as much as possible. But when you're dealing with a two-time MVP and someone I have great respect for, you just gotta try to keep him involved and just keep him in actions, try to wear him down.â
STEPHEN CURRY ON FIRE EARLY đĽ
He starts out with 16 points on 6-of-6 shooting and 4-of-4 from three.pic.twitter.com/QSSYNvR5F6
â ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) February 15, 2022
During Tyronn Lue's time coaching LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2016-2018, his team faced Steve Kerr and Stephen Curry's Golden State Warriors in three consecutive NBA Finals. There are two things that Lue has consistently said over the years. The first is calling Stephen Curry the most dangerous player in the NBA. The second is wanting to put him in actions constantly, make him work defensively, and hope it can tire him out offensively or possibly get him in foul trouble.
In 2016, the Cavs made life hell for Curry, and Cleveland was able to overcome a 3-1 deficit to win the NBA title. Despite acquiring Kevin Durant in the offseason following the Finals loss, Tyronn Lue continued to take the ball out of Stephen Curry's hands to make others beat them. Defensively, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving continued to put Curry in actions to try and wear him down.
Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson had good shooting series, and while Durant went on to win back-to-back NBA Finals MVP trophies, many fans believed Stephen Curry wasn't given enough credit for attracting all the attention that gave his teammates opportunities to score.
Article Continues BelowâYou gotta remember in 2017 and 2018, we blitzed him still with Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant on the floor,â Tyronn Lue added. âSo that's how dangerous I think he is. And that's what we had to do tonight, had to do a better job of getting our bigs up because we were late and Steve does a great job of running some actions where the big is always trailing and he can split it, he can do different things, but in the second half I thought we did a way better job.â
"He's so dangerous, probably the most dangerous player in the league the way he can get hot⌠In 2017 and 2018m we blitzed him with Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson on the floor. That's how dangerous I think he is."
Ty Lue on Warriors' Stephen Curry. #Clippers pic.twitter.com/KKl46FAKzC
â Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) February 15, 2022
The Warriors have seen tons of Tyronn Lue over the last few years, and you can be sure they're probably tired of him. On Sunday night, Lue had Ivica Zubac start defending Luka Doncic for Clippers-Mavs. The move threw the Mavs a little out of sorts, which they later figured out. Steve Kerr wasn't surprised of anything Lue could've thrown at him.
âI watched that game last night and it was interesting,â Kerr said of the game where Zubac started out defending Doncic. âNot surprising given that Ty is not afraid to try some different things. Generally, he's gonna mix it up, mix up coverages and matchups during a game anyways. Wouldn't actually surprise me if he [put Zubac on Steph Curry]. There's a method to his madness. I think Ty sees a lot of value, like our staff does, in kind of mixing up the game and making people feel a little bit uncomfortable changing defenses, that sort of thing. I watched that game. It was very interesting and, I would say, effective.â
Klay Thompson shot just 3-of-14 from the field in Monday night's loss. Andrew Wiggins added 13 points, and the Warriors struggled to put the ball in the basket outside of Stephen Curry. Combine that with their lack of communication defensively, and the Warriors are facing some real issues ahead.
Tyronn Lue and his Clippers will travel to Phoenix to take on the Suns Tuesday night as part of the second half of a back-to-back set.