The top two sharpshooters in NBA history squared off Monday night — Clippers three-point king James Harden and Golden State long-distance wonder Stephen Curry bringing a high level of excitement to the Intuit Dome.
They had one crowd-pleasing moment in the first quarter when Harden drilled a three-pointer only for Curry to follow up with a three on the next possession.
For the Clippers, their focus was on slowing down a potent Warriors offense and stopping Curry, who entered the game with the most three-pointers in NBA history at 3,782.
The Clippers achieved their goals on defense, holding back the Warriors just enough to pull off a thrilling 102-99 win that wasn’t sealed until the final buzzer.
After the Clippers’ 10-point lead was cut to three, a costly turnover in the final seconds nearly sent the game into overtime.
Golden State’s Gary Payton II stole the ball from Norman Powell with 21 seconds left. But Curry, who had 26 points and was six for 15 from three-point range, missed a three-pointer and Payton missed another three-point try with less than two seconds left to secure the Clippers’ second victory over Golden State (10-3) this season.
Both teams struggled with turnovers — the Clippers had 20 and the Warriors 19.
Powell led the Clippers with 23 points, including five three pointers. Harden had 12 points, but was four for 15 from the field and two for six from three-point range.
Clippers coach Tyronn Lue knew the Warriors would put a lot of stress on his defense. The Warriors entered Monday averaging 121.3 points per game, the third-most in the NBA.
“I think sharing the basketball, I think moving without the basketball, the open guy gets the ball, all the back cuts,” Lue said. “[Curry] causes a lot of that confusion because when he’s coming off screens, everyone’s antennas are up, but you just can’t lose sight of what you are supposed to do defensively … .So, we just got to be disciplined.”
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Even with Harden taking sole possession for the second-most three-pointers in league history (2,975) entering the game, the Clippers (8-7) aren’t just about scoring feats. They pride themselves on being defensive stalwarts.
“Their defense is really good,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said before the game. “Ty and [assistant] Jeff [Van Gundy] do an amazing job. They’ve added some really impactful defensive players. So we’ve got to be a much more disciplined team tonight.”
The Clippers played well defensively in the first half, holding them to 45 points on 44.7% shooting, including 33.3% on threes. They took advantage of 13 turnovers by the Warriors to build an 11-point halftime lead despite having 11 turnovers.
Etc: Kawhi Leonard continues to deal with inflammation in his right knee and is out indefinitely. “He’s out all week,” Lue said.
Asked to describe what Leonard has been able to do, Lue said, “shooting a little bit.”
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
