By Robert Steward

LOS ANGELES–

Playing without big men Andrew Bogut and Festus Ezeli, both of whom were out with injuries, the Golden State Warriors went with a smaller lineup against the Los Angeles Clippers. Playing their second game in a row at the Staples Center following a disappointing loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night, the Warriors watched the Clippers shoot poorly in the first quarter and then did the same themselves in the 4th quarter as they were defeated, 100-86.

Following a stretch where the Clippers played 4 games in 5 days, including 4 different time zones, their fatigue showed as they started the game ice cold from the floor. After making their first shot, on a dunk, the Clips proceeded to miss their next 16 in a row. Despite shooting an atrocious 4 of 24 from the floor, Los Angeles only trailed, 20-18, after the first quarter. Jamal Crawford was the lone bright spot for the Clips, coming off the bench to score 10, including a pair of 3-point shots late in the quarter. Golden State shot better in the quarter, 9 for 21 from the floor, but the smaller lineup hurt the Warriors as the Clippers got second-chance shots following their offensive rebounds.

The shooting woes continued for Los Angeles into the second quarter as the Clippers trailed, 34-24, with 5:09 left in the half. At that point the Clips had only hit 7 of 36 from the floor, while the Warriors were 15 for 29. But the top guns for Golden State, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, were quiet in the first half. Towards the end of the quarter, LA started to come alive. After Blake Griffin had missed his first 8 shots, he made a dunk and then J.J. Redick, after missing his first 5 shots, hit a 3-pointer to cut it to 42-39 with 48 seconds left. Chris Paul hit 2 free throws with 30 seconds left to close out the scoring in the first half, trailing Golden State, 42-41, at the break. That the Clippers were down by only 1 at halftime was something of a Christmas miracle due to the fact that they shot only 28% from the floor, including 3 of 17 from beyond the arc. Crawford led Los Angeles with 12 points. The Warriors, while shooting 45% from the floor at the halfway mark, were only 3 of 13 from 3-point land themselves. Los Angeles had a 9-3 advantage in offensive rebounds.

Both teams started better in the third quarter, getting their transition game into gear with more of an up tempo pace. Matt Barnes gave the Clippers their first lead of the game since the opening moments with a jumper to make it 56-55 with 7:18 left in the quarter. The Warriors answered with a 3-pointer from Draymond Green and 1 of 2 free throws from Klay Thompson. But the Clippers then got it going with a 3 from Redick to tie it, along with a pretty reverse alley-oop from Paul to DeAndre Jordan. Paul then put Curry in the spin cycle with a nice fake and a driving layup, all the while being fouled by Curry. Paul hit the free throw to complete the 3-point play then followed it up with a 3-point shot of his own to complete an 11-2 Clippers run to lead, 67-61, forcing Golden State to call a timeout with 3:51 left in the quarter. In addition to the obvious difference on the offensive boards, Los Angeles went to the line twice as much as the Warriors, hitting 16 of 22 from the charity stripe, versus 5 of 11 for the Warriors as Paul closed out the third quarter with another nice fake on Justin Holiday, leading to another driving layup as the Clippers lead, 73-70, heading into the 4th.

A bright spot off the bench for the Warriors was David Lee, who hit all 5 of his shots from the floor to finish with 11 points in 19 minutes of playing time. After Lee’s dunk with 9:17 left to cut the Clippers lead to 78-74, the Warriors could not buy a bucket from the floor. They missed their next 10 shots from the floor as the Clippers went on a 19-3 run to pull away to a 97-77 lead with 2:55 left. Holiday broke the drought with a trey at the 2:40 mark. Klay Thompson led the Warriors with 15 points, but only hit 2 of 10 from beyond the arc. Curry finished with 14 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists but also committed 5 turnovers. Harrison Barnes had a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Green also had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

For the Clippers, Crawford led all scorers with with 24 points in 28 minutes off the bench. Paul had 22 points, DeAndre Jordan had a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds, and after missing his first 8 shots, Griffin finished with 18 points, 15 rebounds, and 6 assists. The Clippers held the advantage from the free-throw line, sinking 23 of 31, while the Warriors were only 12 of 22. Los Angeles improved to 20-10, while the Warriors dropped to 23-5. Golden State returns home to Oracle Arena on Saturday at 7:30pm when they host the Minnesota Timberwolves.