Clippers Flourish Then Flounder Against GSW

By Connor Aylward
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Updated: February 23, 2017

The Clippers and Warriors had themselves a tale of two halves.

A game that consisted of a playoff atmosphere and a look at one of the league’s best rivalries.

Oracle Arena was jumping to get back to basketball after the All-Star break and neither of these teams disappointed out of the jump.

Golden State got out to an early lead but it was the Clippers that owned the first half. Austin Rivers matched Steph Curry punch for punch and Blake Griffin forced Draymond Green to lose his cool with a technical foul. All seemed well in Clipper land as the Clippers waltzed into the half with all the momentum and a twelve point lead.

Doc approved of that steal & slam 👍 pic.twitter.com/y8RCY4JqGk

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 24, 2017

Then the third quarter started and things took a dramatic turn.

The two Western Conference foes exchanged blows in a legendary back and forth that had many dreaming for a future playoff series.

This game… pic.twitter.com/PW0QNASrza

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 24, 2017

But the Clippers 16 point lead faded and the Warriors started to splash. A 50 point third quarter outscored their entire first half (49). All of the sudden the once in control Clippers now trailed by 12, and it only got worse from there.

Golden State wound up winning the game 123-113.

A mentally deflating game for the Clippers that has to make them question if they can even beat this Warrior team that now has beaten them 10 consecutive times.

Statistically there were some good performances for Los Angeles. Griffin wound up with 12 points, 8 assists and 5 rebounds while fellow big DeAndre Jordan had 17 points and 11 rebounds. It was Austin Rivers that played his heart out however. Rivers ended this one with 19 points and 2 really impressive steals guarding Curry.

But when Curry ends up with 35 points and Kevin Durant 25 this can be a tough team to beat.

While there was one half of good, the bad second and dropped result spells trouble for Los Angeles. Even with Chris Paul out this was a game the Clippers should have had. With Paul on the brink of returning from his injury this team can only hope their leader will help them regain their confidence heading into the final stretch of the season.

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