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Clippers, Warriors clash on Thursday
By: Sam Chase - StatFox
Published: 2/20/2018  at  4:59:00 PM
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LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS (30-26)

at GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS (44-14)

Tip-off: Thursday, 10:30 p.m. ET
Line: NA, Total: NA

Are Steve Kerr's Warriors still exhausted/bored/burnt out?

The weeks leading up to the All-Star break are a convenient time for an NBA team to struggle, because it provides a reasonable excuse. The grind of the season is very real, and the league as a whole is probably at its most fatigued in the days prior to All-Star Weekend. This year, no team pushed that narrative for itself harder than the Golden State Warriors. They're hardly floundering, but at 6-4 in their last 10 games, the usually dominant Dubs are clearly not playing up to their capabilities. After a week off from real games, we'll get our first look at the post-ASW Warriors on Thursday, when they host the Los Angeles Clippers. The Clips have played surprisingly well since trading away franchise cornerstone Blake Griffin, and find themselves only half a game out of the No. 8 seed in the West. Thursday night's tilt will be the fourth and final game between the two team's this regular season, with Golden State having won the first two and the Clippers having won most recently on January 10 by a score of 125-106 at Oracle Arena.

That victory in Oakland was by far the Clippers' most memorable this season, and not just because they took down the mighty Warriors on the road—they also got a staggering 50 points from SG Lou Williams. After spending the majority of his career as a more-or-less average scoring guard, Williams has become the leading scorer on a could-be playoff team in his first year as a Clipper. His efficiency numbers are impressive for a volume shooter, and some felt he even earned an All-Star nod—something he very well could have attained if not for the logjam of elite guards in the Western Conference. He spent most of the season as a reserve, was moved into the starting lineup in January, and has been back on the bench for the start of LA's most recent games. He and C DeAndre Jordan were both featured heavily in trade rumors before the deadline, but both were kept around. Jordan is averaging 15.0 RPG on the season, and if he keeps it up that will be the highest such number since Kevin Love averaged 15.2 in 2010-11 with the Timberwolves. He wrecked the Celtics in the Clippers' last game before the break, posting 30 points, 13 boards and four steals in a 129-119 win. SF Tobias Harris, brought over in the Griffin trade, was second on the team in scoring in that game with 21 points to go along with eight rebounds and five assists. He's averaging 17.2 PPG and 6.8 RPG in six games in Los Angeles, and he appears to be a good fit. SG Avery Bradley arrived in the same deal, bringing some of the aggressive perimeter defense the team lost when PG Pat Beverley sustained a season-ending injury early on in the campaign.

In the Warriors' defense, they were playing shorthanded when they lost to Los Angeles last month. They were without PG Stephen Curry and SG Klay Thompson, and obviously being without two of the greatest shooters of all time will affect any lineup. It's also not a coincidence that Lou Will went for 50 on a night that Thompson, Golden State's lead perimeter defender, was sitting out. (SG Nick Young doesn't defend with quite the same intensity.) Thompson is having the best three-point shooting season of his career, hitting an astronomical 45.4% from deep at the All-Star break. Curry is shooting over 41% from three, and is in the MVP conversation as always. So is SF Kevin Durant who, predictably, shouldered the offensive load against the Clippers last time around. He did so with truly breathtaking efficiency, scoring 40 points on 14-of-18 shooting—no player looks as effortlessly dominant as Durant, making him a perfect fit for this Warriors team. He's also become a trendy pick for Defensive Player of the Year, as he's learned to use his length to become the prototypical rim protector for Golden State's small-ball lineup. He'll be competing for that honor with the reigning winner, who happens to be his own teammate: PF Draymond Green. Green is averaging a career-high 1.5 blocks per game.


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