Los Angeles Clippers 41 vs. Golden State Warriors 43 – 1st Half NBA Analysis
Ever since Chris Paul made way into the Los Angeles Clippers, there has been an air expectation from the franchise, which has made only four playoff appearances in its 35 years of history.
On Sunday night, in the final game on Christmas, the Clips took on the Golden State Warriors, a team which has the talent if not results to show for their exciting brand of play. The game at the Oracle Arena was expected to be
an offensive treat and it turned out to be one when the first half ended.
The Clippers expectedly started with two point guards – Chris Paul and Chauncey Billups – and they both knocked down three’s in the first two minutes to get the team going. The Warriors opened their account in the form of an Alec
Biedrins turn around hook shot and after Stephen Curry, Monta Ellis and David Lee chipped in with a two each, Biedrins again slipped in a layup and then nailed a putback dunk of an Ellis miss. His heroics – 6 points and 4 rebounds – meant that the Warrior
raced off to a 12-6 lead inside the first five minutes.
On the next possession, Billups made a two to start an 18-6 run that put the Clippers in the driving seat. The visitors were leading at 24-18, before Ellis drove to the rim for a dunk and made it 24-20 after one.
The Clippers made a positive start to the second quarter and extended their lead to 9 on a Ryan Gomez layup with 8:44 to go in the frame. Brandon Rush made his only shot of the game to make it a six point game after Mo Williams
responded with a fade away jumper, Ellis took over.
He started with a layup on a Curry assist and after two free throws from Cook, he made a layup. He then made an assist to Lee for a layup and a Dorrell Wright 3- shot later; he made finger roll layup to give the Warriors a 37-36
lead.
Blake made one of two free throws to stop the surge and Billups fired a mid range jumper to again hand Clippers the lead, but Wright made three free throws and Ellis another two seconds later, to give the home side 42-39 edge.
Kwame Brown made another charity shot with 56.3 left till the break, but committed a foul with 12.4 to go, allowing Paul to make two free throws and end the first half on 41-43.
Both teams were poor from the floor in the first half. Clips made only 1/3rd of their shots while the Warriors shot at 38.6 percent. Golden State were led with Ellis (12) and Lee, who scored 11 points and 8 rebounds.
For the Clippers, Billups scored 9 while Paul and Griffin had 7 till the interval.
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