For the second time in five days, the Golden State Warriors lost despite leading the opponent by more than 20 points at times, falling before the LA Clippers’ comeback efforts.
The Los Angeles Clippers only led the Golden State Warriors by exactly 9.2 seconds in a 48-minute match. This number is not much, but it is more than enough for the blue and white half of LA City.
Paul George’s beautiful step-back 3-pointer with 9.2 seconds left in the match put the Clippers ahead of Golden State 113-112, thereby winning the final despite having to face a score of 70-58 (a 22-point difference).
“We did not give up. We knew we were capable of coming back, and finally the result came,” Paul George shared on the field after the LA Clippers’ breathtaking victory.
In addition to the 3-point shot that sealed the match result, George led the team with 25 points, 6 assists, and 6 rebounds. James Harden is right behind him with 21 points and 9 assists. Kawhi Leonard contributed 20 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists.
Besides this trio, there are three other LA Clippers players with 12 points each, including Ivica Zubac, Daniel Theis, and Norman Powell. Every single point of each player contributed to this victory, with a difference of exactly 1 point.
“The team really needs a win like this. We are having a difficult time, and this result will bring a huge morale boost,” head coach Tyronn Lue said about the Clippers’ third win in their last six appearances.
If the LA Clippers were happy with their brave comeback victory, on the other side, the Golden State Warriors were deeply disappointed when they once again lost their lead.
Also last week, Stephen Curry and his teammates just let the Sacramento Kings come back from a 24-point deficit. Now they let that scenario repeat itself when the LA Clippers won upstream.
22 points is the biggest advantage the Warriors have in this match (70-58 at the beginning of the third quarter).
By the end of the match, Golden State was still in control, leading the Clippers by 4 points with more than 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter (112-108). However, the fact that Moody only shot 1 out of 2 free throws and Stephen Curry shot an average of no points opened up opportunities for the LA team.
Paul George took advantage of this opportunity perfectly with an assist for Kawhi Leonard’s basket, then he successfully made a long throw to put the Clippers up 113-112, thereby winning the final match.
Unfortunately for the Warriors, they defended well in these two plays, especially Klay Thompson’s extremely uncomfortable clinging situation. But good defense had better attack when PG13 still found a way to bring points to the Clippers.
Stephen Curry led the Golden State Warriors with 22 points (7-18 FG) and 11 assists. Moses Moody and Draymond Green each contributed 21 points to the Warriors’ effort.
Draymond was a surprising name in this match with 4 successful 3-pointers. He was trusted by Stephen Curry to make the final shot in the hope of bringing home the victory, but Green was unable to score.
This is the second game in which Draymond returned after a 5-game suspension from the NBA for strangling an opponent in November. But what remained of Green today was not the scoring but a situation where he wrestled. defend to the floor.
In their next appearance, both teams will play on Wednesday and will be playing at home. The LA Clippers will host the defending champion Denver Nuggets, while the Golden State Warriors will face the Portland Trail Blazers.