The Golden State Warriors bounced back after losing Game 2 of the series against the LA Clippers with a massive win at Staples Center, 132-105.
Champions were ruthless to their rivals and showed rage following an unpleasant shock two nights ago.
Early on, they set the pace which out of reach for the hosts who could only watch the fired up champs splashing from all the positions and silencing the crowd. As much as the fans made noise before the game and in the first few minutes, it all deflated up until the end of the first period. The Warriors were ahead 17 points.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-E2Kfd4Bn8
Steph Curry said after the game that everything that happened to his team in the previous game, came back in the first period of last night’s encounter.
“As much momentum as we lost in the final 16 minutes of Game 2, we got it all back early,”
His team was 16 of 22 from the floor, making all four downtown shots. The Clippers held on until the half of the quarter, but then the guests went on fire, and everything collapsed for Doc Rivers’ guys.
It was 13-9 with 6:23 until the end, and in less than four minutes the Warriors made a 19-4 run which marked the end of all hopes for the hosts.
Despite their miraculous comeback in Game 2, there was simply no chance to see that happening last night.
“They dissected us,” said Doc Rivers.” It’s almost a replay of Game 1 in a lot of ways, and if you don’t score against them, you can’t beat them, no matter how your defense is.”
Rivers was emphasizing the problems his team had on the offensive side of the ball, saying that they struggled with shooting, and were without a proper solution for that.
At the end of the match, Clippers were 37% from the field, shooting 35 of 74, and lousy 22% for three, 7 of 32. On the other hand, Warriors had 62% for two points and 43% for three, 15 of 35. So, pretty much something like this was bound to happen.
Kevin Durant was especially motivated for this night, and his anger hammered Clippers, to be precise Partick Beverly. KD scored 38 points, opening the contest with five straight shots without a miss.
He wanted to show all that he’s unguardable, especially by Beverly with whom he has a lot of beef.
“He was aggressive from the start, at both ends,” Kerr said. “He attacked. He said it [Wednesday], he’s Kevin Durant. And so he showed everybody who Kevin Durant is.”
KD passed Magic Johnson on NBA’s all-time playoff points list, for just one basket and now has 3,702 of them. He is now 252 from Dwyane Wade at the place #10.
Hi was well supported from Steph Curry who scored 21 points. The two-time MVP became the first player in the history of the postseason to reach 400 three-pointers.
On the other side, the Clippers were pale and without any signs of resistance. Ivica Zubac had a team-high 19 points and 15 boards, which he collected in the fourth quarter when everything was over. Williams had 16, Harrell 15 and they were off the court pretty early, because Rivers saw that there isn’t going to be any wonders like two nights before.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGm01mgFbUQ&t=328s
“Game 4 is a new game,” Doc stated after the match, explaining that he didn’t want to overload his players or risk any injuries.
Also, he stated several times during the press conference that the Warriors were more physical than his team, and that he wants his guys to be like that in the upcoming contest.
The next meeting is on Sunday, 1:30 p.m. local time in Los Angeles.
Nikola Velickovic is a sports journalist who loves to write and read on all sports. Nikola contributes both news updates and functions as a sports breaking news writer at WagerBop.
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