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Clippers embarrass Warriors as Baron Davis leads rout in return to Oracle
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Monta Ellis and Baron Davis collide during the Clippers win at Oracle Arena.
The Warriors lost 118-90 to the Clippers on Friday in a game where they couldn't shoot, didn't pass and rarely played defense. End of analysis.
Here's what the team had to say after falling to 1-3 with a 28-point home loss to a Clippers team that started the year 0-4 while playing without the injured No. 1 overall draft pick.
Coach Don Nelson: "It was a bad performance, a bad effort. ... It was just a bad performance -- early, late, it didn't matter."
Guard Monta Ellis: "We should all be embarrassed. This was a terrible performance, and a terrible game. We looked like we didn't know what we were doing out there. We looked like a high school team. We didn't do anything."
Guard Anthony Morrow: "Really, we just fell apart. It was a tough night."
Of course, Stephen Jackson also had plenty to say, including how they got "their asses whipped."
So let's go over this game real quick, and move on to Sunday's game in Sacramento against the Kings, who learned Friday that their leading scorer, Kevin Martin, is going to be out about eight weeks with a hairline fracture in his wrist.
-- The Warriors shot 34.5 percent for the game, making only 29 of 84 shots.
-- The Clippers, who led by as many as 34 points, shot 22-of-36 in the first half and finished at 57.9 percent (44-of-76) for the game.
-- Baron Davis had 25 points, seven assists, four steals and three rebounds to lead the Clippers. But it was Eric Gordon, who scored 18 of his 25 in the first half, who seemed unguardable. Gordon abused the Warriors from both the post and perimeter, making 8-of-12 from the floor, including 3-of-5 from 3-point range.
-- The Clippers' inside duo of Chris Kaman and Marcus Camby combined for 27 points, 21 rebounds and five blocks in 58 minutes.
-- Morrow led the Warriors with 18 points, but after shooting 10-of-12 in Wednesday's win over the Grizzlies, was just 6-of-14 from the floor.
-- Jackson scored 17 points and Ellis added 14 to go with six assists and six turnovers. Despite a boost in garbage time (defined here as late in the fourth quarter, down by 30 to distinguish it from the rest of the game), the Warriors as a team finished with more turnovers (19) than assists (18). On Wednesday, they had a 29-13 assist-to-turnover ratio.
-- Mikki Moore started at center in place of Andris Biedrins, who strained his back late in Wednesday's game. Moore had zero points and four rebounds in 19 minutes. Anthony Randolph, the new backup center who Nelson said would play against other teams' subs, had 13 points and 14 rebounds in 29 minutes, including a couple of extended stretches against Kaman. Randolph used his slight build to his advantage, drawing several charging calls against the Clippers as he violently flopped, I mean, fell to the ground as the bigger Clippers backed into him in the low post. He also had five fouls and left the game limping after apparently twisting his ankle late in the fourth quarter.
-- Stephen Curry, who opened the game guarding Gordon, looked overmatched for the first time in four NBA games, fouling out in just 22 minutes with five points (1-of-5), three assists and no steals.
-- All the motion and space that the small lineup created against the equally big Grizzlies seemed to disappear against the Clippers. The offense looked the same as they often began with all five players above the free-throw line, but there were no cutters to pass to and even off the pick-and-roll, ball-handlers were settling for jump shots that rarely fell. The Warriors trailed 30-19 after the first quarter, a quarter in which they had as many turnovers (7) as field goals. Thanks to all the running and passing Wednesday, the Warriors had 60 points in the paint against the Grizzlies. They finished with just 32 against the Clippers.
-- Searching for a positive note, the Warriors had a 10-1 edge in offensive rebounds in the first half (mostly because they missed a lot and the Clippers didn't).
-- Kelenna Azubuike got his second straight start and showed one of the benefits of the small lineup by grabbing a first-quarter rebound and going coast to coast for a dunk. Azubuike finished with 13 points and seven rebounds but was replaced in the second-half starting lineup by Morrow. Don't be surprised if Morrow, who showed the expansion of his game with a nice running floater over a defender for one of his baskets, makes it into the starting lineup very soon.
-- The Warriors, who had won seven in a row at home against the Clippers, are now 0-3 against their supposed rivals (Clippers, Rocket and Suns) for the eighth playoff spot.
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