Clippers’ holiday better with win
Warriors’ shots fail to fall in second half
LOS ANGELES – Jamal Crawford scored 12 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, Chris Paul added 22 points, and the Los Angeles Clippers handed the NBA-leading Golden State Warriors their second loss at Staples Center in three days with a 100-86 victory Thursday.
The Warriors held the Clippers to 4-for-24 shooting in the first quarter and 39.1 percent for the game, two nights after the Lakers shot 51.7 percent without Kobe Bryant to beat them 115-105. That ended a streak of 27 straight games by the Warriors in which they held opponents under 50 percent.
The Clippers, beginning a nine-game homestand after back-to-back losses to San Antonio and Atlanta, haven’t dropped three in a row since March 29-April 1, 2013. Blake Griffin missed his first eight shots and was 5 for 16 overall with 18 points and 15 rebounds. DeAndre Jordan had 14 points and 12 boards.
Klay Thompson scored 15 points, and Stephen Curry 14 for Golden State, which has lost three of five following a 23-3 start that included a franchise-record 16-game winning streak.
The Warriors, who finished second behind the Clippers in the Pacific Division the last two seasons, still lead them by four games in the standings. Center Andrew Bogut missed his eighth straight game because of an injured right knee.
Crawford scored nine points during a 3:13 span to help the Clippers build an 86-74 lead with 7:27 left. The Warriors, who missed 13 of their first 15 shots in the fourth quarter, went more than 6 1/2 minutes without a field goal until Justin Holiday’s 3-pointer with 2:39 left.
Paul set up Jordan’s reserve slam dunk with an alley-oop lob, then embarrassed Curry with a slick crossover dribble that resulted in a three-point play and followed that up with a 3-pointer – all in a 1:24 span – to give Los Angeles a 67-61 lead with 3:52 left in the third quarter.
The Clippers trailed just 42-41 at halftime, despite missing 34 of 47 shots and falling behind by as many as 11 points. Griffin ended his shooting drought with a slam dunk that cut the Warriors’ lead to 34-28 with 4:01 left in the second quarter. J.J. Redick missed his first five attempts before hitting a 3-pointer with 48.2 seconds left in the half, and Paul sank two free throws to cap a 9-0 run.
The Clippers missed 16 straight shots after DeAndre Jordan’s game-opening dunk, but the Warriors could do no better than a 20-18 lead after one quarter. Jamal Crawford ended the Clippers’ field goal drought with 3:18 left in the period.