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Warriors take down Clippers in L.A., Griffin unhappy with home-court atmosphere

Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

The Golden State Warriors were without star forward Draymond Green, were without much to play for given their comfortable lead in the overall standings, and found themselves down 17 in the second quarter.

None of it mattered, as the league-leading Warriors roared back against their bitter rival Los Angeles Clippers, escaping Staples Center with a 110-106 victory to add another chapter to their magical 2014-15 season.

The Warriors improved to 61-13 and 27-11 on the road.

The All-Star backcourt of Stephen Curry (27) and Klay Thompson (25) combined for 52 points in front of a Clippers crowd that had plenty of support for the traveling Warriors, while David Lee added 17 points and seven rebounds in a rare start.

Curry also added to his season-long resume of demoralizing ankle breakers. Poor Chris Paul.

Paul told the Warriors bench, "He got me." 

Blake Griffin poured in a magnificent 40 points, 12 rebounds, five assists, three blocks and a steal in a losing effort, while Paul posted a 27-point, nine-assist performance.

Griffin addressed the fact vocal Warriors supporters were heard loud and clear at the Staples Center:

"I don't know what we could do, but it would be great if it wasn't that way," Griffin added. "It's kind of like when we play the Lakers. I don't know, maybe worse. It's one of those things where it would be great if it wasn't like that." 

Clippers head coach Doc Rivers took the split crowd more in stride.

"I loved our crowd for the most part," he said, smiling. "I didn't like their crowd."

This isn't the first time the Clippers have felt like the road team in their building. Loud Chicago Bulls fans and Miami Heat fans made their presence known in Los Angeles in wins over the Clippers earlier in the season. 

With the result, the Clippers also fell a loss behind the Portland Trail Blazers in the battle for the Western Conference's final home-court advantage seed in the first round of the playoffs.

Rivers and his counterpart Steve Kerr traded verbal jabs prior to Tuesday's game in the latest example of bad blood between the teams.

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