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Clippers hold off Warriors despite Steph Curry’s 50-point night

LOS ANGELES — A day earlier, Clippers coach Tyronn Lue focused practice on shoring up his team’s transition defense. With Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors coming to Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday night, Lue wasn’t taking any chances on slipping up against one of the quickest teams in the league.

“With this team, we got to get back in transition. We got to take care of the basketball, we can’t relax on defense with Klay (Thompson) and Steph in their movement,” Lue said. “Then we got to take care of the basketball offensively.

“If we do those three things, I think that we’ll be in great shape.”

By the end of a sometimes tempestuous and 3-point free-for-all game, Lue was able to check off those boxes and the Clippers came away with a 134-126 victory over the Warriors despite a 50-point night from Curry.

None of it was easy, though. The Clippers (37-33) withstood several challenges from the Warriors, who were without four key players – Andrew Wiggins, Gary Payton II, Ryan Rollins and Andre Iguodala – and playing on the road, where they have been dismal this season.

Then Kawhi Leonard (30 points) and Curry got into a mini 3-point shooting contest in the fourth quarter that led to the Warriors trimming a 12-point deficit to seven (118-111) with 5:33 left.

The Clippers, however, didn’t let the Warriors’ 3-point reputation get to them, securing, for now, fifth place in the tightly packed, ever-shifting Western Conference standings. The Clippers and Warriors (36-34) came into the game tied for fifth with identical records.

The teams combined for 33 shots from behind the arc, with the Clippers going 16 for 34, while the Warriors were 17 for 36.

Leonard scored nine of his 30 points on long-range shots – and had eight rebounds and five assists. But he was outdone by Curry, who shot 20 for 28 overall and 8 for 14 from distance for the 12th 50-point game of his career.

Lue said for years the Warriors have been known for their 3-point shooting. “They get all the talk,” he said.

He acknowledged that Curry and Klay Thompson have changed the game with their pinpoint accuracy from long range, but there’s more to their game with a strong ability to score in the paint, backdoor plays and midrange pull-up shots. All of which were on display Wednesday.

Each time the Clippers grabbed the momentum and built what seemed to be a comfortable lead, the Warriors came back. In the third quarter, the Clippers watched a 10-point lead disappear in a barrage of 3-pointers and layups from Curry.

They led 94-88 with 1:36 left in the quarter on a 3-pointer by Eric Gordon (16 points, four rebounds) only to watch the Warriors come back again. They managed to hold onto a 99-93 lead heading into the fourth.

“You’re so locked in into focusing on their two great 3-point shooters that now you’re trying to take ’em off the line and now you give up a lot of paint points. And so, that’s what people don’t understand about Golden State.”

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The Clippers had their own arsenal. Paul George scored 24 points, Ivica Zubac added 19 points and a game-high 16 rebounds and Terance Mann had 17 points. Russell Westbrook finished with 15 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.

The Warriors’ frustration flared shortly before the half ended as Draymond Green was whistled for his 16th technical foul of the season. He finished the game but is expected to be suspended for Golden State’s game against Atlanta on Friday.

Then, as play resumed, Green and Marcus Morris Sr. got into a verbal skirmish after bumping into each other after Curry made a 3-pointer. They were separated but Green continued talking to Morris from across the court as the referees reviewed the play.

Morris was hit with a flagrant 2 foul and was ejected, and Green made the foul shot. Westbrook scored on a layup to close out the first half, giving the Clippers a 61-58 lead.

More to come on this story.

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