CaliSports News

Clippers Power Past Warriors 121-116 In OT Slugfest

Coming off of a monster overtime win against the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday the Los Angeles Clippers took on the defending champion Golden State Warriors Monday evening at Staples Center in what would be another overtime thriller.

Prior to tip-off, the Warriors got some good news with starting forward Draymond Green returning from injury. Sadly for Golden State, the return of the forward didn’t quite go as well as planned. Green was held to just 6 points but managed to pull in 14 rebounds and nab 3 steals on what may have been a rusty night for the former defensive player of the year.

Some credit does have to go to a Clippers defense that tallied 11 steals and also held splash brother Klay Thompson to 5-16 shooting from beyond the arc. Having 6 guys score in double-digits offensively didn’t hurt the Clippers spirit either.

A well-balanced performance from Los Angeles saw two bench guys take over the contest with Lou Williams knocking in a team-high 25 points and Montrezl Harrell dominating the Warriors in the paint. Harrell closed out this game with 23 points and 8 rebounds. Harrell’s energy transforms the game every time he steps on the floor and his impact in this game was tremendous against a Warriors bench unit that couldn’t match his intensity.

The biggest impact for Los Angeles though may actually have come from rookie Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Gilgeous-Alexander was matched up with some of the best in the league all night drawing either Thompson or Kevin Durant on both sides of the ball. The matchups didn’t seem to faze the 20-year-old. Gilgeous-Alexander looked confident and composed against the tough competition, netting himself 18 points, 3 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 steals in what was a great all-around performance.

Golden State didn’t just admit defeat and walk off the court with their opponents’ strong performance. They got a tremendous performance from Durant whom continuously quieted a Staples Center crowd that was ready to burst. He finished with a triple-double, including the game-high in points knocking home 33 with 11 rebounds and 10 assists as well.

Los Angeles led for the majority of the game but a 16-3 fourth quarter run by Golden State tied the game up and forced overtime.

Durant and Thompson started the extra period off hot offensively, but Durant would foul out just 2 minutes in. That 6th foul pumped some life into a Clippers team that looked drained heading into the overtime battle. From there, bench mates Harrell and Williams took over on both ends. Williams went on a scoring tear, putting in the team’s final 10 points to lead them to a 121-116 victory.

Back to back huge overtime wins for the Clippers as they move to 8-5 on the season. The schedule doesn’t get any easier for them moving forward however with the San Antonio Spurs coming up next.

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