LOS ANGELES (AP) — Stephen Curry and reserve Carl Landry each scored 23 points and the Golden State Warriors stubbornly held off the pesky Los Angeles Clippers for a wire-to-wire 114-110 victory on Saturday night.
Klay Thompson had 17 points and eight rebounds for Golden State, helping hand the Clippers their first loss of the season. The Warriors learned several hours before the game that reserve small forward Brandon Rush, their best perimeter defender, will have to undergo season-ending surgery after tearing the ACL in his left knee during the first quarter of Friday night’s 104-94 home loss to Memphis.
Rookie Festus Ezeli started at center and had eight points and five rebounds in place of Andrew Bogut, who played in the first two games after returning from surgery on his left ankle. Coach Mark Jackson’s plan early in the season was to rest Bogut in the second of back-to-back games while he gradually gets himself back into game shape.
Chris Paul scored 27 points for Los Angeles, going 19 for 20 on free throws. Reserve Carl Crawford also had 27 points for Los Angeles and Blake Griffin finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds. The Clippers, coming off victories against Memphis and the Lakers, were trying to get off to a 3-0 start for only the fifth time in the franchise’s 43-year history and the first time since 2007.
