The Warriors awaken echoes of their championship past with a comeback win against the Clippers
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Stephen Curry hit seven 3-pointers while scoring 35 points, holding every fan at the Intuit Dome in thrall with another dazzling display of his unmatched shooting ability.
In the fourth quarter of an elimination game, Draymond Green fed Kawhi Leonard and completely destroyed one of the greatest scorers of their generation.
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Curry and Green have already done it all and won it all during their 14 years and four championships together. The Golden State Warriors’ visit to the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night was simply a play for the right to travel to Phoenix after a challenging regular season that ended with Golden State sitting eight games under .500 and in 10th place in the Western Conference.
Yet both the style and substance of this 126-121 comeback victory indelibly evoked the grandeur of the Warriors’ golden era.
The few remaining men who were around for the entire journey were excited to travel back in time.
“For one night, it’s us. We’re champions again,” coach Steve Kerr said. “And I know that may sound crazy to everyone out there. It’s a game to play. I don’t care. Just absolutely beautiful to look at.”
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Curry put it even more simply: “That’s what you live for right there.”
Golden State overcame a 13-point deficit in the fourth quarter behind Curry, who scored 27 points in a dominant second half. While taking charge of the offense, Green took command defensively with a smothering effort against Leonard, who failed to score in the fourth quarter until the Clippers were cooked.
The Warriors also received stellar contributions from two newcomers. Kristaps Porzingis had 20 points, five rebounds and five assists with an exciting series of big plays — and 39-year-old Al Horford shocked the entire arena when he hit four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter of his third game since missing a month with a right calf strain.
Curry broke the tie with his final 3-pointer, falling into the front row of Clippers fans as the ball pierced the net with 50 seconds left. The superstar was playing just his fifth game since returning from a 27-game absence with a knee injury, and showed exactly why he rejected any notion of having to call it quits for the summer.
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“This is what you work for all year, all summer, offseason,” Curry said. “We’re not guaranteed a (playoff) series yet, but these nights are worth it, because you feel the anxiety of having to perform when the lights are on, a do-or-die game… Considering how our season went, all the injuries and everything, for us to play the way we did tonight was special.”
Green didn’t score in the fourth quarter, but the Warriors credited their defensive stopper with stifling Leonard, whose play for Toronto in the 2019 NBA Finals still hurts in the minds of Golden State fans.
With Green hounding his every move, Leonard managed just two shots in the fourth quarter. Leonard finished with 21 points while having a fraction of his usual impact on Clippers games.
Leonard called Green a “Hall of Fame defender. He was hard to even make shots.”
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Green thought the Warriors could be title contenders this season, but that wasn’t the case. Jimmy Butler was eliminated for the season in January, Moses Moody was sidelined in March and Golden State finished the regular season with a 5-15 slide to its worst record in a full regular season since 2012.
But after eliminating Los Angeles, Golden State is still one win away from reaching the playoffs. Even for the Warriors who have already won it all, the chance to do the improbable is irresistible.
“I know we’re not satisfied,” Curry said. “We want to go to Phoenix and secure a playoff series against OKC. That’s the next goal, but to be able to focus in just 48 minutes, figure out how to get a win, knowing the game wasn’t going to be perfect, we were all pretty committed to that. The eight guys that stepped on the field all played a role in making that happen.”
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