(Photo: LetsGoWarriors.com Instagram account)
Here we go with the most comprehensive Golden State Warriors recap of last night’s #NBAXmas game you’ll find out there, capping a nationally televised day of blowouts. We also have post-game reactions and video clips (scroll down!).
Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle summarized the Warriors’ 105-103 nailbiter over the Los Angeles Clippers perfectly:
Both sides refuse to call it a rivalry.
.
Call it whatever you want: The Warriors and Clippers don’t like each other.
.
They played nicely for three quarters in the NBA’s Christmas nightcap and then generally mauled each other in between crunch-time heroics during the final period of the Warriors’ 105-103 victory in front of the 52nd consecutive sellout crowd at Oracle Arena.
Monte Poole of CSN Bay Area with the explanation:
Forward Draymond Green introduced his left elbow to Blake Griffin’s face at the end of the third quarter and received a flagrant foul type 2 and immediate ejection. Griffin received a technical foul.
.
Less than two minutes later, Griffin engaged in a brief scuffle with Bogut, with Griffin receiving his second technical foul and automatic ejection. Andrew Bogut received a flagrant 1 and remained in the game.
Carl Steward of the San Jose Mercury News with the reactions:
The Clippers, to be blunt, thought the Warriors’ strategy on Griffin was purposeful, one reason another skirmish broke out at the end of the game in front of the Warriors bench.
.
“If you look at it, I didn’t do anything and I got thrown out of the game,” said Griffin, scored 20 points. “It all boils down to (the referees) fell for it. To me it’s cowardly basketball. I don’t know their intentions, but it worked.”
.
From Jackson’s perspective, it’s what to be expected in a Western Conference battle between two teams from the same state.
.
“It was a tough, hard-fought game, but I still believe it’s not a rivalry because neither one of us has done anything,” said Jackson. “It was two teams competing with an edge. It’s just physical basketball, good old-fashioned basketball — fouls, hard fouls, screens, two teams playing for something.”
.
To be sure, it had a playoff feel to it down the stretch. The score was tied 78-all at the point Griffin was ejected, but the Warriors still couldn’t shake the Clippers. The two teams exchanged the lead seven times in the fourth quarter and the score was tied eight different times over the final.
Sarah Todd of SFBay.ca with the game’s final moments, after Stephen Curry and Chris Paul traded tough baskets in crunch time with the game hanging in the balance, with the Warriors getting two stops on Paul, the first of which could be considered lucky, the second of which was well-earned, as well as a miss at the buzzer from Jamal Crawford for the win:
Paul drove to tie the game with just 11 seconds on the clock but the ball slowly rolled around the rim before falling off, forcing the Clippers to foul in the final seconds.
.
Andre Iguodala missed both free throws giving the Clippers a glimmer of hope, but Paul’s shot was blocked and sent out of bounds by Thompson.
.
Thompson said his mindset was to just make it tough on Paul down to the last second:
.
“I just didn’t quit and got a good block on him.”
.
With a final opportunity, Los Angeles went for the win as a Jamal Crawford three-pointer fell just short at the buzzer.
.
The action wasn’t finished after the Warriors victory. A scuffle broke out under the Clippers basket between Paul and Bogut. Harrison Barnes came to break things up, shoving Paul out of the way before chaos ensued in front of the Warriors bench.
LetsGoWarriors.com had #Roaracle’s celebration after the buzzer sounded:
POSTGAME REACTIONS
Bogut said the altercation with him and Griffin should have been common fouls:
The NBA would later announce that the 2nd technical leading to Griffin’s ejection should have been a common foul, with Bogut assessed a technical only instead of a technical plus a Flagrant-One:
NBA says Griffin should've been called for a common foul and Bogut should've been called for a technical foul.
— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) December 26, 2013
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Curry: “You can call it what you want. It’s going to be feisty, aggressive…”
More of our coverage (click links):
- 2nd to last play. #CP3 gets stopped at the rim.
- Mark Jackson on the scuffles: “It’s just physical basketball.”
- Mark Jackson talks about #Klay Thompson’s defense on #CP3.
- Mark Jackson credits team D: “You don’t contain #CP3 with one guy.”
- Mark Jackson: “When we take care of the basketball, we’re tough to beat”, credits #StephCurry.
- Mark Jackson on Harrison Barnes: “He’s gotta play that way because at the end of the day, I’m not benching him.”
- Draymond Green: “We came up with a couple stops and that’s what it boils down to.”
- David Lee on #CP3’s final play: “They played some great D at the rim, our guards did.”
- Klay Thompson (matter-of-factly) on the last defense of #CP3: “Kent (Bazemore) did a great job of coming over”
- Stephen Curry answers a question as to why he’s always in the middle of scuffles.
- Stephen Curry: “We definitely made some progress…not turning the ball over…”
- Stephen Curry answers a question as to why the Warriors and Clippers don’t like each other.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
