[av_one_full first min_height=” vertical_alignment=” space=” custom_margin=” margin=’0px’ padding=’0px’ border=” border_color=” radius=’0px’ background_color=” src=” background_position=’top left’ background_repeat=’no-repeat’ animation=”]
[av_heading heading=’Warriors, Clippers set to resume spicy rivalry’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”][/av_heading]
[av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”]
LOS ANGELES – The last time they met, the Golden State Warriors smoked the Los Angeles Clippers, 120-75, in an exhibition on Oct. 4 at Oracle Arena.
Afterward, Clippers coach Doc Rivers, who frequently likes to tweak the Warriors with snarky comments, said Golden State approached the contest like a postseason game while his club showed up for glorified scrimmage.
On Wednesday, the two Western Conforence foes engage in the first of four regular-season clashes as the Warriors visit the Clippers at Staples Center.
The Warriors (18-3), who own the NBA’s best record, captured six in a row over the Clippers, including the last three at Staples.
The bitterness between the two clubs began in earnest during their 2014 playoff series, which the Clippers won in seven games. It reached a boiling point after Game 7 at Staples, where several players from both teams engaged in verbal confrontations in the hallway between the locker rooms. Since then, it’s been one of the league’s spiciest entrees.
As much as Rivers has gone out of his way to publicly downplay any rivalry between the two clubs, the players tell a different story.
The Warriors are coming off a 142-106 rout of the Indiana Pacers behind Klay Thompson’s 60-point performance in 29 minutes. Thompson, who scored 40 points in the first half, connected on 21 of 32 shots from the floor and 8 of 14 from 3-point range.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Warriors forward Kevin Durant, who finished with 20 points and eight rebounds in only 22 minutes. “In 29 minutes? And not even play the fourth quarter? That’s unheard of.”
Meanwhile, the Clippers (16-6), who got off to one of the league’s best starts, have struggled lately. One night before the Pacers ventured to Oakland, they beat the Clippers 111-102, handing Los Angeles its fourth loss in six games. (AP)
[/av_textblock]
[/av_one_full]
