By Jessica Kwong

AP Photo Stephen Curry celebrates in second half near the Clippers Paul Pierce

LOS ANGELES – A 23-point deficit against their west coast rivals proved to be no problem for the Golden State Warriors, who overcame the Los Angeles Clippers 124-117 on Thursday to plenty of cheers at Staples Center and preserved their undefeated record, now 13-0.

The Warriors, who came back from a 10-point deficit in their first matchup against the Clippers on Nov. 5 at home, got off to a poor start, with Stephen Curry and Draymond Green getting into early foul trouble. Los Angeles, meanwhile, hit eight of their first 10 shots and closed the first quarter with a 41-25 lead.

Though they trailed, the Warriors at no point felt the game was out of their hands, said Draymond Green, who scored 19 points and 9 assists.

“I just told the guys that we had 42 minutes left in the game – that’s a lot of time. We just continued to fight and even when (the Clippers) were hitting everything, it still never felt like they were just controlling the game,” Green said. “When it’s like that, you’ve got a shot at winning.”

Los Angeles led by as many as 23 points in the second quarter but the Warriors closed in as the game progressed. By the end of the third quarter, the Clippers’ lead was down to 91-85.

“That was pretty fun to watch our guys fight back like that after the first quarter the Clippers had. We kept telling them, ‘Just keep chipping away,’” said Warriors Interim Head Coach Luke Walton.

The real excitement – and kind of basketball expected of the nationally televised contest between the top California teams – played out in the fourth quarter.

It was a three-point contest. The Clippers’ Chris Paul hit a 25-foot jump shot to keep his team up 105-96, but immediately out of a Warriors timeout, with about six minutes remaining, Curry nailed a three. Paul responded with a corner three and less than a minute later, Curry hit another three. Then Paul Pierce and Andre Iguodala joined the three-point match, with 25-foot and 24-foot jumpers respectively. 

Golden State finally gained the lead, 113-112, when Klay Thompson hit a 24-foot jumper with about two-and-a-half minutes remaining. It was all downhill from there for Los Angeles – the team struggled to score and sent Curry and Thompson to the line. A sizable contingent of Warriors fans chanted “MVP” as Curry made all four of his free throws.

“We finally got stops and stopped turning the ball over, which starts with me,” said Curry, who scored a team-high 40 points but had 7 turnovers. “We know the recipe against the Clippers is that you can’t give them easy points. Whether they shoot well or not, that’s what fuels their offense – easy buckets in transition off of turnovers.”

Thursday’s game was the Warriors’ toughest on the road so far, Curry added.

“We just had confidence down the stretch and maturity that we relied on starting from last year and continuing into this year,” he said.

The defending champions return home for a back-to-back against the Chicago Bulls with a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.