Griffin, Clippers hang on to beat Warriors to take 2-1 series lead
The Los Angeles Clippers, led by Blake Griffin's 32 points and eight rebounds, held on to beat the Golden State Warriors 98-96 in Game 3 of their opening round best-of-seven series Thursday night in Oakland, Calif., and took a 2-1 series lead in the process.
A furious fourth-quarter rally by Golden State - they outscored L.A. 32-23 in the final 12 minutes - ended up short, as Stephen Curry missed a game-tying shot in the final seconds, with Chris Paul draped all over him. (Curry thought he was fouled, believe it or not - "100 percent," he said.)
Curry and Klay Thompson scored the Warriors' final 18 points, but in the end the Clippers snapped their five-game road playoff losing streak, even though they shot a laughable 43.5 percent (10-of-23) from the free-throw line.
Star Performer
Think way back to Game 1, when the Warriors surprised some by winning the series opener without Andrew Bogut. Now, remember that Griffin had foul trouble in that game and was limited to only 19 minutes, with the Warriors going -9 against Griffin and +13 in the 29 minutes he sat. So, yeah, this series is a Griffin foul-out from being 3-0. On Thursday, he did it in an array of ways, flashing his range, his post game and, yes, his athleticism. The end result was a dominant performance, especially in the paint - 32 points on 15-of-25 shooting, eight rebounds, three assists, two steals, and one block. Not even flagrant fouls could slow him down.
Turning Point
Steph Curry was without a field goal from the floor. The Warriors hadn't yet hit a three despite averaging 9.4 per game on the season. In the final two minutes of the first half, Curry scored on an Andre Iguodala dish and then Klay Thompson hit a triple. Turning point heading into the half, right? Wrong. Try Blake Griffin's personal 10-0 run early in the second half, extending the Clippers' lead to 12 at the time. They'd need every last point.
Highlight Reel
At the very least, the Warriors brought the highlights in this one, right from the opening bell.
[Courtesy: NBA.com]
Quotes of the Night - Don't act like you're not impressed
I think there's a rule that if I hate a player when they come into the league I'm going to eventually love them. See: Lebron, Blake Griffin
— christian (@SquidDad) April 25, 2014
Blake, come on. You can't be a good shooter. That's not fair.
— Jeremy Conlin (@jeremy_conlin) April 25, 2014
Moved onto bigger game and hunting Jermaine O'Neal now too RT @jovanbuha: Blake Griffin is straight up abusing David Lee this series.
— Seth Partnow (@WhrOffnsHppns) April 25, 2014
Blake is going all LMA on the Warriors. Not bad for a dunker.
— Eddy Rivera (@erivera7) April 25, 2014
Blake Griffin could turn coal into diamonds right now if he so chose.
— Erik Malinowski (@erikmal) April 25, 2014
Also: if you're shocked or surprised that Blake Griffin ended up being this good, you're an idiot
— Conrad Kaczmarek (@ConradKazNBA) April 25, 2014
Respects, Blake.
— alex (@steven_lebron) April 25, 2014
Series at a glance
Game 1: GS 109, LAC 105 (Warriors lead 1-0)
Game 2: LAC 138, GS 98 (Series tied 1-1)
Game 3: LAC 98, GS 96 (Clippers lead 2-1)
Game 4: Sunday, April 27 - 3:30 p.m. ET
Game 5: Tuesday, April 29 - 10:30 p.m. ET
Game 6*: Thursday, May 1 - TBA
Game 7*: Saturday, May 3 - TBA