SAN FRANCISCO—When the Golden State Warriors stopped playing the stingy defense that has carried them recently, Paul George and Norman Powell found every opening.
Powell made four 3-pointers over the final 7:03 to score 21 points and out-duel Stephen Curry down the stretch, and the Los Angeles Clippers rallied from 12 behind in the fourth quarter to beat the Warriors 130–125 on Wednesday night, Feb. 14.
James Harden had 26 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists, and George scored 24 points before fouling out on a night the Clippers were missing leading scorer Kawhi Leonard because of a left leg injury. His status for this weekend’s All-Star Game in Indianapolis was uncertain, though coach Tyronn Lue didn’t sound overly concerned about the injury.
“I don’t think it’s serious,” Lue said. “He played through it last game. He was experiencing some soreness in the hip, so when the game got out of reach we didn’t put him back in the fourth quarter to be smart about it.”
Curry scored 41 points and became the first player in NBA history to make seven or more 3-pointers in four straight games, shooting 9 for 19 from deep and 15 of 31 overall. He notched his sixth 40-point performance of the season and has scored 30 or more in three of his last four games.
“I thought we let Steph get away from us,” George said. “So I thought once we locked in and keyed into those situations, we knew we had a chance.”
George scored five straight points to spark a 10–0 run midway through the fourth as Los Angeles came back, then Powell’s 3 with 7:03 remaining pulled the Clippers within 106–104.
Powell made another 3 that put Los Angeles ahead with 5:36 left and hit again from deep with 3:22 to go for the lead.
“We lost control of the game defensively and I don’t think we adjusted well enough as a coaching staff,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.
Things got heated early in the fourth when Clippers center Mason Plumlee put a hard foul on Brandin Podziemski after the rookie secured a defensive rebound with 9:36 left.
Golden State’s Jonathan Kuminga shoved Plumlee as others held back Draymond Green, who already has served a pair of suspensions this season.
Lue was then ejected for a second technical foul, Kuminga received a technical and Plumlee a flagrant foul.
Green went down hard in the key beneath the Warriors’ basket with 8:56 left in the third quarter and went to the locker room. He was examined for a concussion and cleared to return.
Kerr was denied his 500th regular-season win as he and some of his assistant coaches rejoined the team on the bench after traveling to Serbia for the funeral of Dejan Milojevic and missing Monday’s win at Utah.
Golden State squandered a double-digit lead to lose for the ninth time, with the Clippers having come back in two of those games.
“When the score was 106–96 it kind of felt like we just stopped playing and kind of felt sorry for (ourselves) and during that stretch they made some tough shots,” Podziemski said. “I think we kind of gave up a little bit and then they started making the easy ones.”
Podziemski made his initial four shots with a pair of 3-pointers to help the Warriors take a 59–52 halftime lead and finished with a career-best 25 points—also making a career-high five 3s without a miss—to go with seven rebounds and eight assists before he takes part in the Rising Stars Game on Friday at All-Star weekend.
The Warriors had their five-game winning streak snapped with just their second defeat in the last nine.
Los Angeles had dropped six straight and 20 of 24 on the Warriors’ home floor.
“Great vibe,” George said of going into the break on a high note. “There’s definitely momentum going into the second half of the season. So it was great.”
Golden State got good news that veteran guard Chris Paul can ramp up his on-court work after the All-Star break and participate in some portions of practice as he recovers from a broken left hand that required surgery on Jan. 8. He is scheduled to be re-evaluated in another 10 days.
