Curry, Landry help Warriors beat Clippers
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Stephen Curry and Carl Landry combined to score 46 points and the Golden State Warriors held on to edge the Los Angeles Clippers, 114-110, despite coughing up a 14-point fourth quarter lead on Saturday at Staples Center.
Landry put home 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Curry added 23 points, including 9-of-10 from the free throw line, to go with four assists and three steals for the Warriors, who bounced back from a loss to Memphis on Friday.
Klay Thompson contributed 17 points and eight boards, while Jarrett Jack ended his night with 16 and six rebounds in the victory for Golden State, which showed resolve in getting the win despite learning that guard/forward Brandon Rush would miss the remainder of the season with a torn left ACL earlier in the day.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"We stayed aggressive tonight," Warriors coach Mark Jackson said. "We played a special team over there. We gutted out a victory. It was a great win for us."
Chris Paul dropped home 27 points -- going an incredible 19-of-20 from the charity stripe -- and handed out 10 assists in the Clippers' first loss of the season. Jamal Crawford also scored 27 points in the setback.
With the Warriors ahead 97-83 and 7:46 on the clock, Los Angeles began its furious comeback effort.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Paul got the run started by drawing a foul on Curry and calmly draining two free throws. After the shots, the Clips went on a 22-8 run to tie the game at 105, capped by Crawford corner 3-pointer, with exactly two minutes to play.
Curry put home a runner, but Paul went 1-of-2 from the line at the other end to make it 109-108 with 42 seconds to play.
Curry hit 1-of-2 from the line to give the Warriors a 112-110 lead with 21.4 seconds left.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Los Angeles called a timeout following the free throws.
On the Clippers' final possession, Paul drove to his left into the lane and laid home what would have been a game-tying basket, but the superstar Wake Forest product was whistled for an offensive foul after running into Curry, who accounted for the final margin with two more free throws.
"It was a tough game, really physical," Curry said. "They shot a lot of free throws. We found a way to grind it out and make some big shots down the stretch."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Golden state roared out of the gate, hitting nine of their first 14 shots from the field and building a 24-10 lead with 4:41 to play in the first quarter.
Consecutive buckets from close range by Blake Griffin cut the deficit to single digits, 26-18, but Jack buried a 20-footer with 10.5 seconds left in the frame and the Warriors led 33-24 after 12 minutes.
"The first quarter set the tone and we battled up hill the rest of the way," Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said. "We got outworked tonight and put ourselves in a hole."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A pair of free throws by Crawford cut the deficit to 43-40 with just under six minutes to play before halftime, but a 21-footer by Thompson and 1-of-2 from the line by Ezell pushed the lead back to 46-40.
The Clips then reeled off a 9-3 push to knot the game at 49 with 1:55 left.
But five straight points by the Warriors restored a 54-49 advantage and they led 57-53 at the break.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Griffin's finger roll with 7:15 left in the third tied the game at 67, but the Clippers could never take the lead, and went into the final period of play trailing, 85-79.
Game Notes
Saturday marked the first meeting of the season between the teams, who split a four-game series last season ... Los Angeles shot 40-of-52 from the free throw line, while the Warriors went 28-of-39 from the stripe ... Clippers center DeAndre Jordan fouled out with four points, eight rebounds and two blocks ... Griffin finished with 19 points and 11 boards.