LOS ANGELES — Golden State lacked its usual outside shooting touch. The Warriors still had an easy time with the Clippers.
Klay Thompson scored 24 points, Draymond Green added 22 points and the Warriors won 115-98 Wednesday night for their seventh straight victory over Los Angeles.
Stephen Curry had 19 points for Golden State, and Kevin Durant, who came in averaging a team-best 27.0 points, was held to 16 on 5-of-17 shooting.
Curry failed to make a 3-pointer for just the second time this season, going 0 of 8. The Warriors were 7 of 30 from long range.
“You try to affect the games other ways when your shot is not falling,” Curry said. “That’s kind of the test. To stay locked in and not get frustrated because I know it won’t happen that often. We’d like to make every shot every night and have that free-flowing offensive rhythm. But for us, if we can defend and not turn the ball over, we’re going to be in good shape most nights. Tonight was a testament to that.”
Jamal Crawford scored 21 points for the Clippers, who have lost five of seven. Four of their seven overall losses have come at home.
“Our spirit wasn’t right,” said Chris Paul, who shot 7 of 14. “We gave them a lot of baskets. A team that shoots as well as they do, we can’t give them points.”
Blake Griffin struggled, scoring 12 points on 5-of-20 shooting and while committing seven of the Clippers’ 14 turnovers. J.J. Redick had two points, well under his 15.5 average.
“I turned the ball over, I missed some easy shots, forced some bad shots,” Griffin said. “We got some work to do, obviously.”
The Warriors set a dominant tone in the first quarter when they shot 56 percent. They erased the Clippers’ one-point lead with a 28-9 run to lead 37-19.
Golden State’s defense smothered the Clippers’ shooters, who were held to 33 percent in the first, and forced coach Doc Rivers to bring in his second unit. The reserves couldn’t get anything going while Thompson, Curry and Green combined to score 15 consecutive points as part of Golden State’s big run.
