The Golden State Warriors suffered their third loss of the season on Monday night to the Los Angeles Clippers by a score of 102-99. Individual scoring came few and far between for both teams. Nevertheless, the Warriors’ heavy hitters off of their bench failed to pile on points. The undermanned Clippers were able to get the edge on the Warriors thanks to superb work at the charity stripe and more impactful shooting from the three-point line.
Bad news: What happened to the Warriors at the free-throw line?
The Warriors went cold at the foul line on the affair. Alarmingly, Golden State shot an abysmal 47 percent from the stripe. They hit a mere nine of their 19 free throw opportunities. Conversely, the Clippers knocked down 16 of their 18 attempts at a stout 89 percent clip.
Aggression was not the Warriors’ problem so much as efficiency was. Despite taking one more attempt at the charity stripe, they did not get the job done. Jonathan Kuminga (1-4 FT) and Brandin Podziemski (1-3) accounted for five of their 10 misses. Looking at the scoreboard, had the Warriors made just four more free throws, a completely different outcome could have taken shape.
Good news: Stephen Curry & Andrew Wiggins played like a championship No. 1 and No. 2
On a positive note, Stephen Curry and Andrew Wiggins led the way for the Dubs the way they’ll need to the rest of the way as title-chasing spearheads.
Curry, who’s had a down year thanks in part to injuries and reduced minutes, scored 26 points. He added seven rebounds and six assists. Going 10-21 from the field and 6-15 from deep made him look like the two-time league MVP that he is while fighting through left knee bursitis.
As for Wiggins, a similar early-season fate has befallen him. Nevertheless, he put together one of his best performances of the young campaign with 22 points on an uber-efficient 7-12 shooting from the field and 2-4 shooting from outside. The Dubs will need their two stars to lead them in big games against formidable foes in both conferences. While a loss is never an easy pill to swallow, they were bright spots on the game.
Bad news: Warriors couldn’t overcome Clippers team not on their A-game
The Clippers were far from at their best on Monday night. Despite James Harden reaching deep into his bag for 16 assists and Norman Powell leading their charge with 23 points, the Clips had vulnerabilities that could’ve been better exploited.
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Not only did Los Angeles shoot a substandard 43 percent from the field, but they only had one other player outside of Powell score at least 15 points in Amir Coffey. As much as the Warriors did their job to limit the Clippers away from the three-point line defensively, they did not up the ante on the offensive end to prevent it from being a ball game. They couldn’t fully climb out of the 11-point deficit they dug themselves into at the end of the first half and it caught up to them at the tail end of their second-half surge.
Golden State will need to shake off this loss in short order. They’ll prepare to take on the Atlanta Hawks at home on Wednesday night. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 PM PT.
