The Warriors Recover From A Huge Early Deficit To Beat The Clippers And Remain Undefeated

You can’t teach what the Golden State Warriors have.

Yes, the reigning champs’ offense flows better than any other in basketball. And yes, their defensive principles are unique and always well-implemented. But talent always wins out over coaching in the end, and Golden State has more of it than any other team in basketball.

The Warriors recovered from an early 23-point deficit with an utterly dominant fourth quarter to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 124-117 on Thursday night. Their comeback was the biggest during the first few weeks of the 2015-16 season, and it gave Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and company a perfect 13-0 record.

Should Golden State maintain this level of play for the year’s remainder, it’s never been more difficult to imagine it losing. If that was going to happen, it probably should have at Staples Center.

Chris Paul made a surprise appearance on the court after missing two consecutive games with groin pain, but certainly showed no ill effects from any injury. He scored 18 points in the first quarter alone, propelling Los Angeles to a 41-25 advantage at the end of one – which just happened to coincide with foul trouble of Curry and Green.

The Warriors’ best players wouldn’t be on the bench forever, though, and interim coach Luke Walton played all the right rotational cards while the blue and gold made a steady run in the third quarter. But just where was Golden State’s vaunted super-small lineup? Walton was saving his ace in the hole for when he needed it most, of course.

From the time Harrison Barnes reentered the game to join Curry, Green, Klay Thompson, and Andre Iguodala with 5:41 remaining in the game and the score 109-99 in favor of the home team, the Warriors outscored the Clippers 25-8. How? With an absolutely unmatched blend of shooting, playmaking, and defensive prowess, the same supreme advantage that won them a title last June.

Here’s what Golden State did in the fourth quarter: Shoot 11-of-15 from the field; make eight of their nine 3-point attempts; dole out 10 assists; block four shots; and force Los Angeles into 36.4 percent shooting and horribly stagnant offense with their ability to switch any matchups both on and off the ball without giving an inch.

The Warriors will lose a game this season. Absolutely. But what Thursday night did more than anything else is just confirm what anyone who’s been paying attention already knew – that the defending champions are not just easy favorites to win the title again, but also a juggernaut of historic proportions.

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