In their sixth consecutive win, the Los Angeles Clippers defeated the struggling Golden State Warriors 121-113 on Thursday night, with James Harden and Kawhi Leonard leading the way. Harden reached 25,000 career points and had a season-best 28 points, 15 assists and seven rebounds, while Leonard contributed 27 points and eight rebounds.
The Clippers, who were without Paul George for the first time this season due to injury, secured their 11th victory in 14 games with Norman Powell scoring 10 of his 21 points in the final period. Los Angeles skillfully resisted the Warriors’ comeback attempt and maintained their perfect home record in December.
Tyronn Lue Clippers coach Acclaimed James for his performance. “He stepped up his game with PG sidelined. He had more ball possession and more opportunities to score and assist. That’s why we signed him, and he delivered a big game.”
With a late third-quarter layup, Harden joined the elite club of 24 NBA players who have reached 25,000 points. The experienced player has adapted well to the Clippers, shooting efficiently and modifying his game to complement Leonard and George, who missed the game with a hip injury.
“The most important thing is to win, no matter how many points I score,” Harden said. “The numbers and all that — I have achieved many things and set many records. But for me, it’s about winning, about creating synergy, about improving constantly, and I believe we made some progress tonight as a team.”
Klay Thompson had his best game of the season with 30 points and eight triples for Golden State, which failed to win any of its three away games and has dropped 12 of its last 16 in a chaotic season that became even more unstable this week.
Stephen Curry had 17 points on 5-for-17 shooting as the Warriors started another possible long stretch without Draymond Green, who is out indefinitely after hitting Phoenix’s Jusuf Nurkic in the face on Tuesday.
“It was hard, because Draymond is a key player for us, and we’re going to feel his loss,” Thompson said. “We trust he’s going to return even stronger, a different person. I’ll miss him as a friend and a brother. I love him a lot, and I’m eager to see him again. Clearly there’s a gap in our team at the moment, but we’re going to try our best without him and keep giving our all.”
Steve Kerr, the coach of Golden State, expressed the team’s backing for the suspension of Green, who will receive some kind of assistance to deal with his increasing cases of bad conduct and excessive aggression on the court. The defensive expert and winner of four NBA titles has faced four suspensions in 2023 only.
Curry said, “He has to stop doing what he’s been doing, and he’s aware of that. We’re aware of that. It’s common knowledge. The question is what has to change, and I think that’s what we’re looking for. That’s the path that we’re on now. … Everyone has their own challenges, and Draymond has his, and I believe that he can overcome them, no matter how much time he needs to do that.”
Due to some missing players, both teams changed their usual starting lineups. Golden State brought up Jonathan Kuminga and Brandin Podziemski to fill in for Green and Andrew Wiggins, while George’s spot was taken by Amir Coffey.
The rookie Podziemski only made four points on 11 shots in his debut as a starter, while Kuminga had 15 points in his second start of the season.
Despite a slow beginning, the experienced marksman Thompson showed his old form in his home state of Southern California. He made four triples in the third period to keep the Warriors alive, but he and Curry only managed one basket out of seven attempts in the final quarter.
Against his old team, Chris Paul had 12 points for the Warriors, who have been winless in their last seven away games, two of which were against the Clippers this month. Paul also got a Flagrant Foul 1 in the second period when he pushed Daniel Theis to the ground with both hands while boxing out under the Clippers basket.
Paul sank a long-range shot as the third quarter ended to cut the Clippers’ advantage to six points, and the Warriors closed the gap to one point early in the final quarter before failing to score for the following three minutes.
