Clippers Find Another New Way to Lose to the Warriors, Get Swept 123-113

It’s become increasingly apparent over the last few years that we’re never going to get to see the Clippers actually beat the Warriors in a basketball game. At least on nights like tonight, it’s nice when they entertain us by finding a new way to lose instead of following the same old scripts.

And boy was this one crazy.

The Clippers played really well in the first half, kept their composure, and built a nice 12-point halftime buffer. We all knew that the Warriors would get hot and eat into that lead, but I don’t think anybody saw the third quarter coming.

Golden State scored 50 points in the third after putting up just 49 in the first half, led by 20 points in the quarter for Stephen Curry and 15 for Kevin Durant. The Warriors were 9-14 from deep in the period.

That was all she wrote. The Warriors won the fourth quarter too, but it almost didn’t matter as neither team really attempted to top the Warriors’ record-setting third quarter performance.

I asked the Clippers for three things before this game: play hard, don’t get hurt, and don’t get embarrassed. They played hard (and well) for most of the game, and nobody got injured. And looking at the final score, they didn’t really get embarrassed in the normal sense—the Warriors are a better team, the Clippers are missing Chris Paul, and it’s a road game. All in all, a 10-point loss isn’t so bad. But in classic Warriors fashion, they found a way to embarrass the Clippers anyway—that 50-point third quarter is going to be seared into the psyche of every Clipper and Warrior for years to come when these teams face off.