Oakland, CA – Stephen Curry finished with 31 points, eight assists and six rebounds on Wednesday, as the Golden State Warriors handed the Los Angeles Clippers their second consecutive loss with a 115-94 triumph at Oracle Arena.
David Lee stuffed the stat sheet with 24 points, 13 boards and seven assists, while Klay Thompson knocked down five 3-pointers en route to 19 points for the Warriors, who have won four straight.
"We've come a long way this season and I thought this was a game where a lot of people were looking to see what we were made of," Lee remarked. "We've got these guys again on Saturday. They're a very good basketball team, we were just a little bit better tonight."
Los Angeles closed out 2012 on a franchise-record 17-game win streak, but the Clippers dropped a 92-78 decision to the Denver Nuggets on New Year's Day before suffering a second straight setback on Wednesday.
Jamal Crawford led Los Angeles with 24 points, while Chris Paul added 23 points and six assists in a losing effort.
"We just kind of hit a little bit of a wall," Clippers forward Blake Griffin, who had 10 points and six rebounds, said of the loss. "They completely outplayed us tonight in almost every area."
Los Angeles led by one, 7-6, just over two minutes in, but the Clippers went the next five-plus minutes without a field goal and the Warriors promptly took advantage.
Golden State reeled off a 20-1 run during the Clippers' drought, as Thompson buried a pair of 3-pointers during the surge, including the capper to make it 26-8 with 4:14 left in the first.
Paul quelled the run with a floater and the Clippers closed the quarter on a 16-7 swing to pull within 33-24 after 12 minutes.
Charles Jenkins opened the second with a jumper to push Golden State's lead back to double digits, but the Clippers countered with a 7-0 surge to trim the deficit to 35-31 with 9:14 left in the half.
The difference was two just past the midpoint of the frame before a 10-2 Golden State surge found the margin at 53-43 with 3:22 left in the half.
The Warriors carried a 62-49 lead into the locker room and scored the first six points of the second half to press the lead to 19.
Los Angeles pulled within 10 late in the frame on a Crawford jumper before the Warriors closed the quarter on a 10-2 swing to take an 82-64 advantage into the final frame.
The Clippers never threatened in the fourth, as Golden State extended its lead as high as 20 over the final 12 minutes to help the Warriors improve to 2-0 against the Clippers this season.
Game Notes
Curry scored 25 points in the first half, which is the most by any Golden State player in a half this season ... Harrison Barnes finished with 13 points and nine boards for the Warriors ... Matt Barnes tallied 19 points and seven rebounds for the Clippers ... Golden State shot 50 percent (42-for-84) from the field and connected on 12-of-23 from three-point range.
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