NBA Playoffs 2014 Round 1 Game 4: Warriors vs Clippers Preview Can Golden State Bounce Back Against A Distracted Clippers Team

Los Angeles Clippers (2-1) at Golden State Warriors (1-2)

Tip-off: Sunday, April 27st, 2014 – 7:30PM PDT

Location: Oracle Arena, Oakland, CA

Spread: Los Angeles (2), meaning Clippers are 2-point favorites per VegasInsider.com

TV: TNT / CSN Bay Area | Radio: KNBR 680 AM

Livetweet: @LetsGoWarriors (by @goldenstatenz)

Previous Matchup:

4/24/2014 LAC 98, GSW 96 – After a very controversial non-call to end the game, The Warriors find themselves trailing in the series that’s going to come down to the wire. In a playoff series its all about adjustments and who counters their opponent.

Probable Starting Lineups: (Stats are from Playoffs only now)

Warriors:

PG: Stephen Curry (14.0 PPG, 7.0 APG, 3.0 RPG)

SG: Klay Thompson (22.0 PPG, 5.0 APG, 7.0 RPG)

SF: Andre Iguodala (8.0 PPG, 3.0 APG, 1.0 RPG)

PF: David Lee (20.0 PPG, 3.0 APG, 13.0 RPG)

C: Jermaine O’Neal  (13.0 PPG, 1.0 APG, 3.0 RPG)

HEAD COACH: Mark Jackson (122-109) Playoff Record: (7-7)

Clippers:

PG: Chris Paul (28.0 PPG, 8.0 APG, 7.0 RPG)

SG: JJ Redick (22.0 PPG, 2.0 APG, 2.0 RPG)

SF: Matt Barnes (2.0 PPG, 3.0 APG, 3.0 RPG)

PF: Blake Griffin (16.0 PPG, 3.0 APG, 3.0 RPG)

C: DeAndre Jordan (11.0 PPG, 0.0 APG, 14.0 RPG)

HEAD COACH: Doc Rivers (644-499) Playoff Record: (65-58)

Keys To The Game:

1) Get off to a good start and stay in front. Golden State got off to a great start in Game 3, but they couldn’t push their lead high enough to keep the Clippers out of it. The Clippers obviously battled back and won the game.

2) Make Blake Griffin a jump shooter. Make him shoot the ball from 14-20 feet out. Yes, he may hit some, but the Warriors can live with that. Golden State would probably much rather him hit jumpers then go in the paint and get dunks and layups.

3) Bench and Andre Iguodala have to play better. We didn’t bring Andre in to get 7.0 points a game in the playoffs and get out played by JJ Redick. Also, we didn’t trade for Jordan Crawford and Steve Blake to get minimal contribution out of them, we traded for them because our bench is lousy well it still is besides Draymond Green and occasionally Harrison Barnes. A bad bench will not cut it in the playoffs.

Monte Poole of CSN Bay Area

The Warriors didn’t ask for this, to be under a spotlight of such magnitude that it will shine brightly Sunday when they meet the Clippers for Game 4 of their first-round playoff series.
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But the incendiary racist remarks attributed to Clippers owner Donald Sterling are forcing the teams to share the NBA stage with reality beyond hoops. The comments allegedly uttered by Sterling merely add dimension to a rivalry with plenty.
Broderick Turner Of LA Times-The Clippers had a 45-minute team meeting Saturday, mostly to talk about Sterling. One player told the group they had worked too hard to get to this point, that they played the game for each other and not for Sterling.
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When they got to practice on the campus of the University of San Francisco, the Clippers spoke about how they hope to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the series with a win in Game 4.
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“We talked as a team and we feel like this game on Sunday is maybe more important than the last game was on Thursday,” Paul said. “It’s a big game for us. We’re sure they [the Warriors] felt like they had a chance to win down the stretch. We really need this game.”