The Clippers have now dropped consecutive games for the first time in 2012. We’ll try to figure out how.
1. Is it fair to say the Clippers played right into the hands of the Warriors, or were the Warriors just better?
Charlie Widdoes, ClipperBlog: The Warriors were just better. Mark Jackson’s team won matchups in the frontcourt (Ekpe Udoh went for 19 and 8 against DeAndre Jordan) and backcourt (Monta Ellis had 32 points on 20 shots), while forcing the Clippers into 17 turnovers on the night.
Nick Flynt, ClipperBlog: The Warriors were…sigh…better. The defense from the Clippers was embarrassing, the sets down the stretch are what we usually see. The Warriors just took better advantage of the Clippers’ mistakes than the Clippers did the Warriors’ mistakes.
Michael Shagrin, ClipperBlog: The Warriors were better, but mostly because they held themselves together better in the fourth quarter. The Clippers had the Golden State exactly where they wanted them heading into the fourth–within striking distance of Chris Paul. But it’s worth noting that after logging heavy minutes in the third quarter, Vinny del Negro only played Paul for the last six minutes of the fourth.
2. Which was worse: The interior defense, or the perimeter defense?
Charlie Widdoes, ClipperBlog: The interior defense. Monta Ellis will get buckets, and even do so with the efficiency he had tonight on occasion. I would have liked to see a more concentrated effort to stop him — like, you know, not consistently allowing bigs to switch onto him — but the biggest problem was Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan getting thoroughly outplayed by David Lee and Udoh.
Nick Flynt, ClipperBlog: Probably the perimeter defense. The interior D was bad, but I think it all began with the amount of focus that had to be payed to stopping Monta. But really, it was all bad.
Michael Shagrin, ClipperBlog: It has to be the interior defense. It’s not unreasonable to give up a big night to Monta Ellis and Steph Curry was held to just 11 points. On the other hand, letting David Lee score 24 and gifting a 19-point career night to Ekpe Udoh is unacceptable.
3. Is there a silver lining in this loss?
Charlie Widdoes, ClipperBlog: It gave more proof that isolation offense and heavy reliance on the 3-pointer isn’t a sustainable way to win games, does that count? Mo Williams, Chris Paul and Randy Foye took turns catching fire on the way to 19 long balls, but it still wasn’t enough. And that just shouldn’t be a surprise. They aren’t good enough defensively to win that way against teams as hot from downtown as they are.
Nick Flynt, ClipperBlog: No. The Clippers’ supporting scorers still failed to put together a full effort (Mo was great, Caron and Foye were bad) and the defense looked as bad as ever. Eric Bledsoe even fouled a jumpshooter again. Bad game all the way around.
Michael Shagrin, ClipperBlog: Chris Paul being held scoreless in the fourth quarter could be looked at as a silver lining. If you see that ineptitude as a trend that started with his meltdown against the Spurs, then that silver certainly loses its shine.
Twitter: @charliewiddoes, @ClipperBlogNick, @mshaggy

