Warriors vs Clippers Playoffs Recap: Golden State Comes Up Short In An Emotional Game 5 (Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle)
Earlier in the day, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver issued a lifetime ban to beleaguered Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling. As if winning a fifth game of a playoff series on the road wasn’t hard enough, the Golden State Warriors were walking into a lion’s den.
Insert any improbable scenario you want, Rocky IV, Hoosiers, or getting in and out of the Department of Motor Vehicles in less than 20 minutes, the odds were stacked up against Golden State.
The entire NBA community had galvanized around Los Angeles. For one night, this night, the Clippers were America’s Team.
On TNT’s pre-game show Charles Barkley said, “Golden State has no chance of winning this game”.
1st quarter
With the Clippers crowd ready to erupt, LA made a conscious effort to pound the ball inside, going to Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan on four of the first five possessions.
Draymond Green picked up two quick fouls and the Clippers took an early 10-9 lead.
Going inside would be a recurring theme for the Clippers throughout the first quarter. Griffin and Jordan combined for 14 of LA’s first 19 points. Golden State struggled from the free-throw line, shooting just 2-for-6.
The Clippers led at the end of the 1st period, 31-21, feeding off the emotion of the crowd and the events of the day. Meanwhile, the Warriors looked out of sorts offensively and didn’t come close to matching LA’s intensity.
Stephen Curry had just 3 points to along with 0 assists, and looked out of sync from the start of the game. Once again the Clippers double-teamed Curry on every high screen-and-roll. LA dominated fastbreak points by the count of 15-6.
2nd quarter
Draymond was the best player on the court to start the 2nd period until he picked up his 3rdfoul. He provided great energy and scored four straight points, battling Griffin on defense.
On offense, Green forced Griffin to pick up his 2nd foul. With the Warriors trailing 40-32, Curry hit a three-point shot and got fouled, resulting in a 4-point play. LA had the lead at the end of the 2nd period, with a slim 55-52 lead.
Despite taking a lead into halftime, Griffin and Chris Paul shot a mere combined 3-for-16 from the floor. Jordan was a monster on the inside, scoring 15 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
Head coach Mark Jackson made a subtle change in the 2nd quarter letting Curry play off-guard, but the Warriors’ small lineup had no answers for Jordan and the #SplashBrothers combined for only 16 points.
3rd quarter
With 8:33 left in the 3rd quarter, Griffin picked up his 4th foul. The Warriors defense frustrated Griffin throughout the first three quarters and Clippers head coach Doc Rivers took Griffin out of the game.
Midway through the quarter, the Clippers still lead 65-61. Both teams looked sluggish offensively and couldn’t seem to get into a rhythm. Jackson left David Lee on the court after he picked up his 4th foul, but Lee picked up his 5th foul with 3:55 left in the third period.
Curry seemed to get going and hit back-to-back threes late in the period but could not sustain the momentum after that. At the end of the 3rd period, the Warriors trailed by five, 77-72.
Both Paul and Curry had come alive, hitting three pointers late in the quarter. Jordan had tallied 19 points and 16 rebounds by now, but struggled from the free throw line shooting just 3-for-9 from the charity stripe.
4th quarter
Rivers inserted Griffin in at the start of the 4th period and Griffin had back-to-back baskets to put the Clippers up by five, 83-78. With a smaller team on the floor, the Warriors struggled to guard the paint. Green, who is listed at just 6’7″, actually played center for parts of the 4th quarter until he picked up his 5th personal foul.
With 5:08 left, trailing by 7, Golden State decided to intentionally foul Jordan. However, Jordan made 3-of-4 from the free throw line, rendering the “Hack-A-Jordan” strategy useless.
The Warriors fought and battled all night but couldn’t get over the hump. Everything that worked for Golden State in Game 4 didn’t seem to work in Game 5.
With the entire basketball community pulling for the Clippers, they played well enough to win by the score of 113-103. Unfortunately, the Warriors were just a step slow all game.
Remarkably, Curry only had ten shot attempts
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