Warriors Hold Off Clippers 114-110
LOS ANGELES (CBS/AP) -- Stephen Curry and reserve Carl Landry had 23 points apiece and the Golden State Warriors held off the pesky Los Angeles Clippers for a wire-to-wire 114-110 victory on Saturday night.
Klay Thompson had 17 points and eight rebounds for Golden State, which handed the Clippers their first loss of the season. The narrow win came after the Warriors learned reserve small forward Brandon Rush, their best perimeter defender, will miss the rest of the season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during the first quarter of Friday night's 104-94 home loss to Memphis.
Rookie Festus Ezeli started at center for Golden State and had eight points and five rebounds in place of Andrew Bogut, who played in the first two games after returning from surgery on his left ankle. Coach Mark Jackson's plan early in the season is to rest Bogut in the second of back-to-back games while he gradually gets himself back into game shape.
Chris Paul scored 27 points for Los Angeles, going 19 for 20 at the free-throw line. Reserve Jamal Crawford also had 27 points, and Blake Griffin finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds. The Clippers, coming off victories against Memphis and the Lakers, were trying to go 3-0 for only the fifth time in the franchise's 43-year history and first since 2007.
Los Angeles missed its first five shots and quickly fell behind by nine points. The Warriors extended their lead to as many as 14 with about 4 1/2 minutes left in the first quarter, and the Clippers cut the deficit to 57-53 by halftime. But they never got the lead despite three 3-pointers in a 1:33 span of the third quarter by Caron Butler that kept them within striking distance.
The third one came with 2:27 left in the third, narrowing the gap to 79-77. But the Warriors responded with six straight points, then began the fourth quarter with a 12-4 run to open a 97-83 lead with 7:46 remaining.
The Clippers fought back with a 16-4 run, capped by a three-point play by Crawford and a pair of free throws by Paul that sliced Golden State's lead to 101-99 with 3:55 left. The Clippers tied it two more times before the Warriors went back in front on a jumper by Curry with 1:25 to go.
Griffin missed a layup in heavy traffic at the other end, but the Clippers got the ball back on a shot-clock violation. Paul had made 19 consecutive free throws from the start of the game before missing his next one, keeping the Clippers behind 109-108 with 42.9 seconds left.
Jarrett Jack made two from the line for the Warriors and Paul made it a one-point game again on a layup. Curry made one of two for a 112-110 Warriors lead, and the Clippers took a timeout with 21.4 seconds on the clock. But a driving layup by Paul was negated by his offensive foul against Curry, whose two free throws sealed the verdict with 6.9 seconds left.
NOTES: Griffin, who came in with a free-throw percentage of 59.3 in 150 NBA games, was 11 for 16 from the line - the 10th time he has made 10 or more. ... The Clippers are the only franchise the Warriors have a winning road record against (50-45). ... Crawford was the first Clipper to score 20 or more points off the bench since Mo Williams did it last January.
(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
