Golden State Warriors @ Los Angeles Clippers (1/5/26)

Last night's game vs. the Clippers in their fancy Intuit Dome was heavy on drama.  It'll be remembered for the refs completely missing an obvious goal tending call on a GP2 bunny followed by Steve Kerr getting two technicals and an ejection for going ballistic about it.  In the end, the Warriors had the ball with the clock stopped and six seconds and a chance to run a play where any FG would win.  Steph had already fouled out, and the play was for Jimmy to go one-on-one and take a shot with everyone else crashing the glass for a put-back.

Unfortunately, Jimmy airballed it, and contrary to Fitz wisdom, not all airballs go to the offense.   

Nick Friedell's coverage in the Athletic was similar to his coverage of many recent games:  focus on the microcosm of the ejection and throw in a few lines about the rest of the game.   Here's my comments about said rest of game:

• I've complained a lot about the Warriors' poor shooting from the field AND Draymond throwing up too many bricks from three, and this was no different.  They just can't start a game hot.  The game started with no Warriors buckets even though Moody had two steals.  Dray missed three shots from deep right off the bat.  He wound up missing six in the game and hitting none.   I will say again:  He should stop shooting threes as soon as he's missed three more than he's made.
• Having said that, the rest of this game was not bad.  Dray scored when he drove to the rim (once coast-to-coast), and he logged 2 steals 5 rebounds and 12 assists while committing only one turnover.   He's just got to stop taking threes when he's missing. The Clippers were just giving him those shots and he was suckered in.
• Turnovers were how the Warriors stayed in this game.  They picked up the swarming trick from OKC, especially on Kawhi, and finished the game with 18 steals!   More of that, please!
• Lots of good ball and player movement through the paint.  I particularly liked one where Melt came through for a pass and threw up a reverse layup from out in front of the hoop.
• The scoring drought in the third quarter killed 'em.  They got a few points from Jimmy and Steph free throws, but just could not hit from the field.
• Gui Santos came in and good things happened again!   Six points, two rebounds, and an assist for a +13 in 12 minutes.  Kerr played 12 guys and again it worked well.   DNPs were Spencer, Hield, and Kuminga.

It's frustrating to lose when this team needs a run and is so close to getting one.  I started a poll in the Athletic about what people would do if they were Dunleavy looking at the trade deadline.  Check it out and vote here. 

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What I feel like calling out is that Gary Payton 2 continues to have positive impact on these games.   The guy many people said they'd be happy to see thrown into a trade has gotten his bounce back and is dealing!  Last night he had 14 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, a block, and no turnovers.  I particularly liked this one play where was in the corner and snuck around out of bounds to zip back in under the hoop where Steph found him from the top of the key for a dunk.  

GP2 over the past six games has 49 points, 16 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 steal and 5 blocks while playing 84 minutes.  Over the same period, Will Richard (who everyone loves, including me) has 46 points, 18 rebounds, 10 assists, 9 steals and 1 block in 131 minutes.  Will obviously has a brighter future with the Warriors, but I feel like GP2 is playing great and getting largely ignored.   

I mean, it's not just 49 points... it seems like all of them are either layups, dunks, or threes, the statistician's trifecta.   And all of that are things he's doing on his own... the Warriors never run any plays for him.  These are plays that save the possession.   Good on you, Gary!