The Golden State Warriors haven't seen the Los Angeles Clippers since the first day of the season, but came to Oracle Arena Monday night looking to push the W's losing streak to four straight. But after terrific performances from Monta Ellis and David Lee, as well as a great showing from Ekpe Udoh, the W's hung on late to secure the 104-97 victory.
These teams battled to a 56-56 tie at the half, and kept slugging it out all the way down to the final buzzer. L.A. held a two point lead with 2:49 left in the game, while a Brandon Rush three with two minutes left gave them back the lead. A big David Lee rebound gave the W's back the ball, leading to a Monta Ellis runner in the lane to push the lead to three for Golden State.
Dominic McQuire came up with a huge block on Chris Paul with about a minute left, who came in for Ekpe Udoh after bumping knees with a Clippers' player the play before. Two Steph Curry free throws pushed the lead to five, and Golden State made just enough plays to fend off the talented Clips down the stretch as L.A. made bad decisions and 17 turnovers on the night.
Monta Ellis was brilliant once again, finishing with 32 points including 4-4 from downtown and 6-6 from the charity stripe, while David Lee came up with another big double-double, pouring in 24 points and 13 rebounds. Ekpe Udoh started in the place of Andris Beidrins who was out with a sickness, shining on both ends of the floor with 19 points and 8 rebounds.
As for the 'dubstitutes', they struggled mightily tonight, going a collective 6-19 led by Nate Robinson's nine.
Chris Paul started out the first half with 20 points, but was held to only four in the second half, none in the fourth quarter, finishing with 24 and six assists. Blake Griffin finished with 21 and nine rebounds, while Mo Williams was on target off the bench with 22 points with 6-8 shooting downtown.
This was the 13th game with the Warriors had a three point margin with 90 seconds or less to play in regulation. They'd lost nine of them previously, but held down the fort tonight in Oakland.
The W's have now won 10 of their last 12 agains the Clippers at Oracle, who now prepare for their trip to Phoenix to meet the Suns on Wednesday.
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