A day game after a night off in Los Angeles.
Not exactly a recipe for disaster for the Warriors, but not exactly a formula for success, either.
If the Warriors ended up losing Saturday’s game against the Clippers and struggled through a slow and sluggish game at Staples Center, there would have been no shortage of jokes about the nightlife and party scene in the City of Angels. Instead, Golden State rolled to a 121-105 win over Los Angeles, and there will be no shortage of talk about the play of two-time MVP Steph Curry.
A week after returning from a sprained ankle that accounted for a three-week absence, Curry was in elite form, pouring in 29 first half points en route to a season-high 45-point effort that finished off one of the best weeks of his career. Just eight days after scoring 38 points in a brief 26-minute outing against Memphis, three days after dropping 32 points and nailing the game-winning three-pointer in the closing seconds in Dallas, and two days after racking up 29 points against the Warriors’ top challenger in the Western Conference, the Houston Rockets, Curry continued his absurd pace.
Curry was masterful in just 30 minutes on the floor, draining 8-of-16 attempts from beyond the arc and hitting a career-high 15 free throws on 16 attempts as he found success driving to the basket and pressure Clippers’ defenders to commit.
Steph out here dropping a matinee 40-piece on the Clippers. pic.twitter.com/YtbASCMJat
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) January 6, 2018
Against a Clippers team that’s without Chris Paul (left in free agency) and Austin Rivers (injury), Curry was incapable of being stopped, or even slowed down, by a Los Angeles squad who’s best guard, Lou Williams, is a pure scorer coming off the bench. After years of hard-fought battles with Paul in Southern California, Curry moved around Staples Center with the freedom of a running back playing behind five Hall of Fame offensive linemen.
Following a 17-point first quarter and a 12-point second quarter, Curry tallied 16 in another dominant third quarter that allowed Golden State to run away from a Los Angeles team that didn’t have the gas to keep up out of the break.
Here's Steph's four 3-pointers from the 1st quarter for your viewing pleasure. pic.twitter.com/FTiZnopPVn
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) January 6, 2018
The talent gap was sizable at the opening tip, but it became worse for the Clippers after forward Blake Griffin exited in the first quarter with a concussion. Griffin caught an incidental JaVale McGee elbow underneath the Clippers’ basket and fell to the floor before the Los Angeles medical staff attended to him. He was able to walk off the floor under his own power, but his absence took a toll on a roster that doesn’t have the firepower it used to.
Even as Kevin Durant sat out with a calf injury for the second straight game, the Warriors’ depth allowed the team to roll through the third quarter as they turned a nine-point halftime lead into a 27-point edge heading into the fourth quarter. Curry could have easily challenged his career-high of 54 points, but with the game in hand, Golden State kept its starters on the bench in the final 12 minutes.
Shimmy after the 3 so I know it's real… pic.twitter.com/m2oRXjGSSM
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) January 6, 2018
In 126 minutes since returning from injury, Curry has now scored 144 points and hit 28 three-pointers, blowing away any concerns that might have existed about the health of his ankle and his fitness in general after spending three weeks on the sidelines.