Warriors vs Clippers Playoffs Recap: Game 3 Almost Doesn’t Live Up To Anticipation, Steph Curry Unable To Be The Hero (Photo: @NBAMemes Twitter account)
ORACLE ARENA, CA — #DubNation fans eager to re-enter #Roaracle in a playoff atmosphere were all over Twitter and Instagram on Wednesday and Thursday, ready to roar their Golden State Warriors to victory. Even the Los Angeles Clippers were in anticipation of being the villain.
Meanwhile, the Warriors players were wary of not relying on the crowd to bring their oncourt energy, as they’d done so often in the regular season, albeit against weaker-on-paper opponents.
And yet the Warriors once again came out and made turnovers. Draymond Green had four of them before the first half was overwith. Penetrations to the rim by David Lee and the like were being rejected by DeAndre Jordan, who finished with 5 blocked shots and a myriad of altered shots.
The Warriors seemed jittery to perform in front of their beloved fans and dug themselves in a hole, while the physical force of Blake Griffin could not be contained, allowing the Clippers to build an insurmountable double-digit lead that went as high as 16 points.
Stephen Curry wasn’t getting up enough shots, wasn’t getting enough touches on offense, until Griffin had already too much of a dent. Yet the Dubs fought back with help from the #SplashBrothers and timely three-point shooting.
A series of small runs brought the roaring crowd back and it came down to a few calls in the end, including one that fouled out Green on what appeared to be a charge by Griffin with 24 seconds remaining, then a non-call at the buzzer as Chris Paul deftly shoved his left forearm to Curry’s lower midsection on a fadeaway attempt.
Both calls were highly questionable, but understandable, considering the circumstances: Griffin had imposed his will on the game at a certain point and had, in essence, earned a right to a 50/50 call late, whereas Curry had not. At the same time, that’s no excuse for the inconsistency of both calls. Either they should have both been called or they should have both not been called, that late in the game.
Again, file it under “part of the process”. The Clippers are just a little bit ahead on the timeline as compared to the Warriors, especially without Andrew Bogut.
The Clippers survived, 98-96, and took a 2-1 grip on this first round series of the 2014 NBA Playoffs.
Stay tuned as we offer this recap of the rollercoaster experience from last night with sights and sounds from #WarriorsGround. The next update of this post is scheduled for late this afternoon after LetsGoWarriors.com attends both Warriors and Clippers practices…
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