By ,
Published February 05, 2015
Oakland, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - An already turbulent weekend for the Los Angeles Clippers grew worse Sunday, when the Golden State Warriors evened their tight Western Conference playoff matchup with a torrid shooting display.
Stephen Curry jumped out to a fast start in Game 4 of this first-round series and the Warriors shot 55 percent from the field in rolling to a 118-97 win.
Curry finished with 33 points, seven assists and seven rebounds, while Andre Iguodala netted 22 points for the Warriors, who had dropped back-to-back games after stealing the opener in LA.
The series shifts back to Los Angeles for Game 5 on Tuesday, and there is no word yet on whether Donald Sterling will be in attendance.
Sterling wasn't in attendance for Sunday's game amid the controversy sparked by an audio tape in which the Clippers owner allegedly makes racist remarks.
Clippers players staged a silent protest prior to tip-off by wearing their pregame shirts inside-out with the team's logo out of sight. They wore black arm or wrist bands and black socks but appeared stuck in warmup mode when the game got underway.
"It's my job as a coach to get them ready and I just didn't feel like I did the right stuff," said Clippers coach Doc Rivers.
Curry raced out with 17 points in the first 8:30, hitting all five of his 3- point attempts as the Warriors blew open a 20-point lead in the first quarter.
"We tried to come out with a sense of urgency. That's been a big problem in the first three games," said Curry. "As a team we haven't started games off well and they've gotten a double-digit lead each first quarter. So we moved the ball well, guys set great screens and we executed at a higher pace. When we do that, we're tough to guard."
The Clippers pulled within nine in the fourth but did not climb out of the mammoth hole. Jamal Crawford and Blake Griffin led the club with 26 and 21 points, respectively.
Golden State picked an ideal time to post its highest scoring first quarter of the season. In addition to making seven 3-pointers, the squad got 10 points off dunks and led 39-19 before Crawford netted the final six points.
Klay Thompson quietly had eight points during the one-sided start and began the second quarter with a highlight-reel two-hand slam over the Clippers' Glen Davis.
"They're one of the best-scoring teams in the NBA for a reason. They've got a lot of guys who can score," said Griffin. "We know they're going to score points, they're going to go on a run, they're going to have a good quarter, but we have to do a better job of withstanding that."
The Clippers trailed 66-48 at halftime and were within 11 down the stretch of the third quarter, but pull-up jumpers by Harrison Barnes and Curry followed by a Curry 3-pointer pushed the Warriors' cushion to 89-71 heading to the fourth.
A Hedo Turkoglu 3-pointer four minutes into the final stanza cut the margin to 96-87, and after Barnes and Curry answered with consecutive buckets, Chris Paul made three free throws to make it a 10-point game.
Curry responded with his seventh and final deep make, however, to spark a game-sealing 9-0 run.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Saturday that Sterling deserves due process in the investigation over the racially charged remarks made in 10 minutes of audio TMZ posted on its website late Friday night.
Deadspin on Sunday published what it said was a longer version of the same conversation purported to be between Sterling and his girlfriend in which the Clippers owner asks her not to bring black people to the arena.
The remarks -- the NBA is investigating whether or not the audio is legitimate or has been altered -- drew rebukes from around the league, with LeBron James, Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson weighing in, among others.
After Sunday's game, Iguodala was asked if he felt bad for the Clippers on some level considering the weekend the team had. He said he feels bad for every player in the NBA.
"It's not just the Clippers. There's a partnership with the owners, revenue sharing, so one owner represents every owner in our league, just like when one player makes a mistake it's a black eye for the whole body of players," said Iguodala. "It's a sad situation that someone feels a certain way about the majority of players in the league."
Game Notes
The Warriors, after making 10 combined 3-pointers in Games 2 and 3, shot 15- of-32 from behind the arc ... Golden State also won the battle in the paint, 40-28, and had 27 fastbreak points to LA's eight ... Paul logged 16 points and six assists and committed four of the Clippers' 19 turnovers ... Barnes, Thompson and David Lee all scored 15 points in the win.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/warriors-add-to-clippers-turmoil-even-series