NBA: Warriors rally, reach 13-0 with 124-117 win over Clippers
Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, left, celebrates near Los Angeles Clippers forward Paul Pierce during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015, in Los Angeles. The Warriors won 124-117. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
LOS ANGELES — Stephen Curry scored 40 points and the Golden State Warriors rallied from a 23-point, first-half deficit to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 124-117 Thursday night for their 13th consecutive victory to start the season.
Klay Thompson added 25 points, Harrison Barnes had 21 and Draymond Green 19 for the Warriors, one of four teams in NBA history to open 13-0. The defending champions improved to 6-0 on the road.
Chris Paul scored a season-high 35 points, including 18 while igniting the Clippers in the opening quarter after missing two games with a sore right groin. Blake Griffin added 27 points and Jamal Crawford had 15.
The Warriors closed on a 25-8 run, taking their first lead since Curry’s 3-pointer began the game. He sat down with two early fouls in the first quarter.
Thompson hit a 3 for a 113-112 lead with 2:43 left. Crawford’s 3-pointer provided the Clippers’ last lead of 115-113. From there, Curry hit a 3, Green scored on a cutting layup and then Curry made four straight free throws for a 122-115 advantage.
Down by 10 with 5 minutes remaining, Golden State went 8 for 9 from beyond the arc in the fourth quarter and completed the biggest comeback in the NBA this season.
The Warriors pulled to 96-95 on a 3-pointer by Barnes in the fourth before DeAndre Jordan got fouled and made both free throws. He followed with an alley-oop dunk off Paul’s pass near the Warriors’ bench, and Josh Smith capped the 6-0 run with a one-handed slam after Curry’s turnover for a 102-95 lead.
Both teams began firing up 3s. Paul Pierce followed Paul’s 3 from the left corner with one of his own that stretched the Clippers’ lead to 112-102 in their last scoring burst of the game. Andre Iguodala hit a pair that left Golden State trailing 112-110.
Golden State cut its deficit to 83-76 late in the third, outscoring Los Angeles 22-11 on a combined 16 points by Curry and Green. Green’s 3-pointer beat the buzzer and left the Warriors trailing 91-85 heading into the fourth.
The Clippers shot 71 percent in the first quarter, when Paul scored 18 points and was perfect from the floor, the 3-point line and the free throw line. They scored 10 unanswered points and at one point, Paul had singlehandedly outscored Golden State 18-16.
Los Angeles stretched its lead to 23 points – largest of the game – early in the second on a 3-pointer by Austin Rivers.
The Warriors closed the quarter on a 22-13 run that began with eight in a row to trail 68-54 at halftime. Curry had 11 points in the spurt and Barnes added eight.
Curry hit a 3 for the Warriors’ lone lead of the first three quarters before things quickly turned sour for their star shooter. He had two turnovers and two fouls in the game’s first 4 minutes before spending the rest of the quarter on the bench.
