The Warriors have seen the Los Angeles Clippers twice this season and theoretically went into each game with an advantage.
Golden State had an extra day off between games and squandered it both times.
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The Clippers, again playing on the second night of a back-to-back set as they were on Oct. 27 in San Francisco, held off the rallying Warriors and handed them a 102-99 loss Monday night at Intuit Dome in Inglewood.
The Warriors (10-3) failed to score 100 points for the first time this season and slipped to second place in the Western Conference. They simply must accept losing twice to the Pacific Division rival Clippers in the first month.
Stephen Curry finished with a game-high 26 points but was unable to hit a contested shot in the final seconds. Andrew Wiggins scored 22 points.
Steph shows his smooth moves 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/bpsjzfkON7
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) November 19, 2024
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Here are three takeaways from a frustrating night in Golden State’s first game in the Clippers’ new arena:
Message heard, not heeded
When these teams last met, on Oct. 27 at Chase Center, LA won behind strong inside play and lots of sloppiness by the Warriors, who gave the Clippers 31 points off 19 turnovers.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr referenced that in his pregame news conference.
“We’ve got to be a much more disciplined team tonight,” he told reporters in LA. ‘We’ve got to play a cleaner game, take care of the ball, get it out of the net and go and generate more pace.’’
Appropriate message, but it perished quickly once the ball went up. The Warriors committed five turnovers in the first five minutes and seven in the first quarter, giving the Clippers 11 charity points.
LA took a 27-22 lead into the second quarter and it only got worse for the Warriors. They were up to 13 turnovers by halftime, and LA turned the donations into 22 points.
The Warriors did a better job in the second half, but their early errors were too much to overcome.
Easy money goes unspent
The Warriors have done plenty of things well this season, which is why they’ve been at or near the top of the West all season. Their offensive and defensive metrics are impressive, but there is one facet in which they’re failing.
They’ve struggled to make free throws, and that was a problem again.
Golden State reached the line 19 times, but drained only nine shots, finishing at a season-low 47.4 percent. The Clippers, by contrast, were 16-of-18 (88.9 percent) from the line,
The Warriors entered the game ranked last in the NBA free-throw percentage at 71.2 percent, with only Curry (94.3 percent) and Buddy Hield (85.7) shooting above 75 percent.
The problem is getting worse, as they were only 60-of-89 (67.4 percent) from the line over the four previous games.
Third-quarter life not enough
Playing from behind in the first half, the Warriors came out of intermission tightening up the defense and giving themselves a chance.
They won the quarter 27-19 by limiting the Clippers to 31.8-percent shooting from the field and scoring 11 points off four LA turnovers.
Steph has the Warriors back in it 👀 pic.twitter.com/W6B6T6Sm59
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) November 19, 2024
That was enough to erase a 15-point deficit and pull into a 72-72 tie with 1:43 left in the quarter, which ended badly when Hield fouled Amir Coffey on a 3-point shot attempt with 0.7 seconds remaining in the quarter.
Curry and Wiggins combined for 17 points in the quarter, while the Warriors also posted a 14-12 rebounding advantage. But once Coffey drained three free throws to end the quarter, they never again caught up.