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Kendra Andrews, ESPN
SAN FRANCISCO — It was deja vu for the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night as they hosted the LA Clippers.
After putting together three good quarters, they started to slip. Their defense, which had been far improved over the past several weeks, broke down. The shots they were sinking earlier couldn’t find the hoop. Their 15-point lead began to dwindle.
The Warriors’ 130-125 loss was their sixth defeat after leading by at least 15 points — only the San Antonio Spurs have lost more such games. The Warriors blew a 22-point lead to these same Clippers earlier this season.
It had been some time since the Warriors crumbled in a game like this. Heading into Wednesday, Golden State had won eight of its past 11 games and put together a five-game win streak. The Warriors believed they had turned a corner and built some momentum.
But their loss to LA was a reminder of how much more they need to do.
“We’re very average,” Warriors guard Stephen Curry said. “Very average doesn’t get it done in this league. We need to make a run, hopefully, we bounce back tomorrow and after the All-Star break hit a stride where we win every game [at home] and steal a few on the road.
“We’ve been very average so far, so we have to regain that home-court fear that we have grown accustomed to in the past.”
The Warriors led 103-94 when Clippers coach Tyronn Lue was ejected with 9:36 left in the fourth quarter after picking up his second technical foul. After that, LA went on a 36-22 run to close the game, scoring 44 points in the fourth. It’s the second-most points LA has scored in any quarter this season and tied for the second-most points the Warriors have allowed in the final period under coach Steve Kerr.
“They’re a really good team that has some confidence, and we’re still trying to prove that we’re that type of team,” Curry said.
Kerr said he was confident this game was a one-off rather than a relapse — that this won’t become a habit as it was so often earlier in the season. The hope is that the Warriors won’t have to keep adding to their list of candidates for “worst loss of the year,” which already has multiple contenders.
Golden State has one more game before the All-Star break, a matchup in Salt Lake City that was rescheduled following the death of assistant coach Dejan Milojevic.
The Warriors hoped to enter the break on a continued hot streak, climbing their way higher into the play-in picture. Instead, they now need Thursday’s game to be a palate cleanser.
“Either way, how tonight would have gone, we would say the same thing about tomorrow — we’re trying to keep the streak going and not have any missteps,” Curry said. “Now, it’s the same mission but a different mindset of bounding back and just feeling good going into a six-day break. It’s a very, very, very, very important game, to say the least.”
Source: www.espn.com