warriors vs clippers preview: (Photo: Clippers.com)
Los Angeles Clippers (45-20) vs Golden State Warriors (41-24)
Tip-off: Wednesday, March 12th, 2014 – 7:30 PM PST
Location: Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
Spread: Los Angeles (-7) meaning Clippers are 7-point favorites
TV: CSN Bay Area | Radio: KNBR 680 AM
Livetweet: @LetsGoWarriors (by @goldenstatenz)
Last Game / Streak:
LAC – Won 112-105 vs PHX in Los Angeles, Won 8 straight games
GSW – Won 108-85 vs DAL in Oakland, Won 5 straight games
Last Meeting Between The Teams:
GSW 105-103 as Griffin called the Warriors “cowardly”
Probable Starting Lineups:
Warriors:
PG: Stephen Curry (23.3 PPG, 8.6 APG, 4.4 RPG)
SG: Klay Thompson (17.8 PPG, 2.3 APG, 3.1 RPG)
SF: Andre Iguodala (9.3 PPG, 4.3 APG, 4.7 RPG)
PF: David Lee (18.5 PPG, 2.2 APG, 9.6 RPG)
C: Andrew Bogut (7.9 PPG, 1.6 APG, 10.1 RPG)
Clippers:
PG: Chris Paul (18.6 PPG, 11.0 APG, 4.4 RPG)
SG: Darren Collison (10.7 PPG, 3.6 APG, 2.3 RPG)
SF: Matt Barnes (9.1 PPG, 1.8 APG, 4.4 RPG)
PF: Blake Griffin (24.4 PPG, 3.6 APG, 9.6 RPG)
C: DeAndre Jordan (10.2 PPG, 1.0 APG, 14.0 RPG)
Both teams are expecting a physical matchup tonight against the Clippers. A Warriors win tonight accomplishes the following:
- Wins the season series against the Clippers,
- Moves a game closer to the Clippers in the Pacific Division standings
- Possibly moves a game closer to the Portland Trail Blazers.
The last time the Warriors played the Clippers at Staples Center, Golden State committed too many turnovers, which cost them the game.
The Clippers are coming in very hot, winners of eight straight. They are coming off a very nice win over the Phoenix Suns, where Griffin scored 37 points.
Monte Poole of CSN Bay Area Group:
The Warriors and Clippers have a tempestuous relationship, and there are reasons to believe the mutual animosity will be apparent when they meet Wednesday night at Staples Center.
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“We don’t like them, they don’t like us, so it’s going to be a battle,” Warriors center Andrew Bogut said. “The last two games, the last three games, have been real physical on both ends. That’s what you want to see as a fan. You don’t want to see anybody get hurt, but there’s going to be a lot of banging around inside the paint and a lot of physicality.
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“We know for us to have a chance to win, we have to slow their transition game. So that’s going to be a huge key for us.”
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That really distills the Warriors’ goal to its essence. Both teams are hot, having won eight of their last 10. In winning their last eight, the Clippers are lighting up scoreboards, averaging 115.5 points per game during that stretch. Meanwhile, the Warriors have made a habit of stifling opponents, allowing an average of 96.5 points per game.
Steve Perrin of ClipsNation:
The 6,000, 3,000, 1,000 club. Barring something strange, tonight Blake Griffin will become the third player in NBA history to score 6,000 points, grab 3,000 rebounds and hand out 1,000 assists while shooting 50% from the field before the end of his fourth season in the NBA. Griffin currently has 2,995 career rebounds, so he needs five more to join Hall of Famers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Charles Barkley in a very exclusive club.
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