Warriors suffer first loss and Steph Curry injury
A dad day at Chase Center
The Golden State Warriors entered Sunday night’s game against the LA Clippers knowing they were in for their biggest challenge of the year. Sure, they were at home for the first time this season, and yeah, they were facing a Clippers team that is without Kawhi Leonard. But after blowing past the Portland Trail Blazers in their season opener, and destroying the Utah Jazz on Friday night, the Dubs anticipated their first tough game of the year. And that’s exactly what they got.
Ironically enough, the Dubs flipped the script at the start of the game. Through their two lopsided wins, Golden State’s lone weakness has been the beginning of the game, with their new-look starting lineup struggling to find rhythm. But there were no such struggles in this one. They forced a stop on their first defensive possession of the game, with Steph Curry draining a three on their first offensive possession. Even though the Clippers rattled off seven straight points, the Warriors answered with six straight of their own. Ivica Zubac was hurting them inside, but the big starting lineup, which has struggled with spacing, was getting good looks from beyond the arc.
Behind a strong quarter from Andrew Wiggins, the Warriors found themselves leading 17-13 ... and the starting five got to stay in the game for seven minutes, with Steve Kerr not needing to turn to his bench as early thanks to their strong play.
From there, the teams went back-and-forth in an entertaining, fast-paced game. James Harden was dishing with Derrick Jones Jr. eating for the Clippers, while the Warriors were pushing at every opportunity. We all caught our breath at the end of the quarter, with the game tied 34-34.
And then things went downhill, and never fully recovered.
Behind an all-bench unit, the Dubs struggled mightily to start the second quarter. LA scored the first seven points of the frame, leading to a Kerr timeout. The quarter-starting run reach 9-0 before the Warriors finally scored, and they turned the ball over four times before putting anything on the scoreboard.
At the eight-minute mark, Buddy Hield broke the run with a basket, and shortly after added a four-point play, as the Warriors responded with an 8-0 run, forcing a Clippers timeout. Zubac was still dominating the Warriors on the glass, but Golden State’s defense was tightening up ... until it wasn’t. The Clippers rattled off their own 8-0 run, as the Warriors continued to turn the ball over. LA pushed it to an 11-point lead with about two-and-a-half minutes remaining, before Golden State went on a 7-0 run ... it was a quarter of runs!
But the Clippers did better with their runs, and led 59-54 at halftime, with the Warriors losing a quarter for the first time all season.
The third quarter is when the struggles started to resemble a disaster. Again the Warriors started things slow, with four early turnovers and a Gregg Popovichian timeout very early on by Kerr. But then the offense started to find its legs, with Wiggins once again leading the charge with a brilliant frame. But it was a back-and-forth affair, as LA’s offense — again led by Jones, Harden, and Zubac — was matching the Warriors blow-for-blow. The game seemed to live in the 4-9 point margin, and then things got very bad, with the one thing no one wanted to see: a Curry injury.
Curry rolled his ankle, and went to the bench in visible pain, where trainer Rick Celebrini worked on him, while Curry used a resistance band. Meanwhile, LA had pushed the lead back to double-digits, but the Dubs answered with a 6-0 run ... only for Norman Powell to end the quarter with a clutch three, ending the run and giving LAC an 86-79 lead. It would be the first competitive fourth quarter of the season for the Warriors.
They started the final frame with some good looks, but the shots weren’t falling. LA pushed the lead back to double figures, with Kerr calling a timeout with exactly eight minutes left, and the Clippers leading by 10. Good news awaited everyone when the timeout ended: Curry was checking back in.
The good news was very short lived. Just a few seconds into his return, Curry rolled his ankle setting a screen. He immediately left the game and limped to the locker room, with the Warriors ruling him out of the game with a left ankle sprain.
Golden State didn’t want Curry’s injury to be in vain. They responded to their star leaving, and put up quite a fight. A Wiggins three capped off a 10-run Warriors run, pulling Golden State to within a point with about four minutes left. But the Clippers answered with a clutch sequence of their own, with Harden and Powell field goals bookending a blocked Buddy Hield jumper.
From there, the Warriors would keep fighting, but didn’t have enough offensive firepower. The shots didn’t fall, they couldn’t contain Zubac, and they would lose 112-104.
Wiggins’ phenomenal game paced the Warriors, as he would finish with 29 points on 11-for-15 shooting, including 5-for-8 from distance. But only three other Warriors would reach double figures, with 18 points for Curry, 12 for Jonathan Kuminga, and 10 for Kevon Looney. While the offense had looked fluid and seamless in the first two games as well as in preseason, the Dubs were pestered by LA’s active defense, turning the ball over a whopping 21 times ... while recording just 19 assists. Given that they lost Curry to injury and had more turnovers than assists, it’s a minor miracle that they were still in the game in the closing minutes.
Zubac feasted on Golden State, finishing with 23 points, 17 rebounds, and six assists, while Harden finished with 23 points and 11 assists, albeit on poor shooting ... and with five turnovers. Powell scored 20 and Jones 18, as LA’s starting unit beat Golden State’s 86-65.
The Warriors now get a day off, before hosting the New Orleans Pelicans for a back-to-back on Tuesday and Wednesday. And until then, all eyes are on Curry, with Kerr saying after the game that the sprain is “mild or moderate,” and that the two-time MVP will have an MRI tonight.
Fingers crossed.