Steph Curry Makes Chris Paul Fall With Crossover [VIDEO]
BETH HARRIS, AP Sports Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Stephen Curry snaked through the paint, came out near his bench, dribbled behind his back and faked Chris Paul to the floor on a jumper from the left corner, drawing oohs from the crowd.
That was just the first of several moves the Golden State Warriors put on the Los Angeles Clippers in rallying for their 10th straight victory, 110-106 Tuesday night. Curry finished with 27 points and Klay Thompson added 25.
"I knew he was trailing and I thought I could make a move toward the basket and get some creativity in between," Curry said. "As soon as I saw him kind of go down, I knew I had to shoot it and just see what happened. You kind of get a little adrenaline rush because those are kind of cool moments. Thankfully, the shot went in. I didn't see the bench's reaction, but they said everybody was going crazy."
David Lee added 17 points for the Warriors, who had lost four in a row at Staples Center, where the crowd created a playoff atmosphere. They booed to drown out the chants of "MVP" for Curry by the many Warriors fans.
"The man is tough," Paul said of Curry. "They run him off a ton of screens. Three of those shots I was in his chest and he still made them."
The Clippers blew a 17-point lead and had their seven-game winning streak snapped. Blake Griffin scored 40 points, Paul added 27 and J.J. Redick 14.
Paul's layup drew the Clippers to 106-104 with 12 seconds left, but he was called for a backcourt violation while taking an inbounds pass from DeAndre Jordan with 9 seconds to go.
"We played tough, gave up some leads, stopped playing defense and it had an effect on our offense," said Jordan, who had five points and 15 rebounds. "They're someone you're going to have to go through to get where you want to be. We're going to see them down the line."
Thompson and Curry combined on four straight free throws to close out the win for the Pacific Division champions.
"Obviously, we have everything locked up in the West right now for the regular season, but this was a big win for us," Curry said. "It just felt good to get that win and keep our streak going."
Neither team led by more than three points for much of the fourth quarter.
The Warriors were ahead 103-100 when Jordan got fouled. He made the first and caught a break with a lane violation on the second. Jordan took advantage and hit that one, too, leaving the Clippers trailing by one.
Then the Clippers got unlucky. Matt Barnes was called for a foul on Andre Iguodala, who had already put up a 3-pointer before Barnes got to him in front of the Clippers' bench. Iguodala made all three free throws, extending the Warriors' lead to 106-102.
"We weren't playing that well but that's what we've been doing all year: bouncing back," Thompson said. "We just want to establish this high level of play every night so it becomes second nature."
Redick missed a 3-pointer and Paul missed a 3 and another jumper before his layup got the Clippers within two with 12 seconds to go.
"We had the right energy and intensity, we just didn't sustain it for 48 minutes," Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. "We needed it more than them."
Thompson and Curry combined to score 19 straight points early in the third, with each of them hitting 3-pointers, to pull the Warriors into a 67-all tie. A minute later, Curry's 3-pointer gave the Warriors their first lead, 72-71.
"Once we let them get loose, they're shot-makers and it was hard to turn them off," Rivers said.
The Clippers countered with a 17-10 spurt, including eight points by Paul, to take an 88-82 lead into the fourth.
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DOC VS DRAYMOND
Draymond Green said this week he is no longer selling "Cool Story, Glenn" T-shirts from his line because he thought people were making too much out of his back-and-forth with Rivers, whose given name is Glenn.
"I do want my money," Rivers joked before the game. "I think I should get a percentage. It is my name."
Green has said he has the "utmost respect" for Rivers, who dittoed the feeling with a caveat.
"But that doesn't mean I don't want to beat his butt and him mine," the coach said.
Their verbal exchange started three weeks ago, after Dahntay Jones of the Clippers bumped Green, who was giving a postgame interview. Rivers was sarcastic when asked about the exchange, saying, "Wow, that was such a violent bump!"
TIP-INS
Warriors: Green, the team's leading scorer off the bench at 11.8 points per game, didn't play to rest his shins. ... The bench outscored the Clippers' reserves 34-12.
Clippers: Griffin had a season-high 16 field goals. It was his second game this season with 40 or more points. ... Los Angeles' only win over the Warriors came at home on Christmas.
UP NEXT
Warriors: Host Phoenix on Thursday.
Clippers: At Portland on Wednesday.
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