Taking a closer look at the first-round playoff series between the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers
Records:
Warriors: 57-25
Clippers: 48-34
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Regular Season Series:
Warriors won 3-1
Avg. Score: Warriors 122, Clippers 111.5
Summary: For the Warriors it’s business time as they will look to three-peat as champions. The last three-peat the NBA saw was back in 2002 when the Lakers won their third title in a row. Golden State picked up its play recently which suggest that they are ready for the task at hand.
The Clippers come into the playoffs as somewhat of a surprise as they traded away their best player at the deadline and still held onto their playoff spot.
Stats:
PPG
Warriors: 117.7
Clippers: 115.1
OFF RTG
Warriors: 115.9
Clippers: 112.4
Pace
Warriors: 100.9
Clippers: 101.7
OPP PPG
Warriors: 111.2
Clippers: 114.3
DEF RTG
Warriors: 109.5
Clippers: 111.5
FG%
Warriors: 49.1
Clippers: 47.1
3FG%
Warriors: 38.5
Clippers: 38.8
EFG%
Warriors: 56.5
Clippers: 52.9
Tov%
Warriors: 12.6
Clippers: 12.7
X-Factors:
Warriors: Stephen Curry
Curry is the player who makes the Warriors go from good to unbeatable when he’s on. He’s dealing with a minor injury that happened on Tuesday but all signs point to him being healthy and ready to go for Saturday’s contest. Curry went 3-0 vs Clippers this season while scoring at least 27 in every game including a 42-point performance back on 12/23.
Clippers: Lou Williams
Williams is likely the NBA’s sixth man of the year again and he’s been great for the Clippers. If Williams is feeling it then he can help keep the Clippers in the game. Williams scored 25 twice this season vs the Warriors and went 1-2 in three meetings.
Prediction: Warriors in 4
Golden State wanted this matchup and a big reason is that they knew they could dominate it and get some rest while waiting for the winner of Houston-Utah.