Rowan Kavner
LOS ANGELES – J.J. Redick doesn’t understand where the perceived “disrespect” comes from.
The rivalry between the Clippers and Warriors seems to heat up with each passing season and each passing game, as the two teams get set for their first matchup of the year Wednesday at Golden State, but what Redick can’t figure out is where or why there’s a notion the reigning champions aren’t getting their due respect.
“I don’t know who’s manufacturing this disrespect,” Redick said. “Who disrespected them? I can’t figure that out. They were the champions; they were the best team in basketball.”
Redick said the great teams in the league have a certain mentality about them, and the Warriors still seem as hungry as they were last year when they won the NBA title. Both teams go into this matchup 4-0, with the Warriors coming off a game in which they handed the Grizzlies their worst loss in franchise history.
“You have to give them credit,” Redick said. “There’s no hangover for them. They seemed to have picked up right where they left off, and maybe a little bit better.”
Clippers head coach Doc Rivers said the Warriors remind him of his Celtics group that won a championship in 2008.
“People forgot the following year we were better in the first 15-20 games before Kevin (Garnett) got hurt,” Rivers said. “We were beating teams by 30 every night, it felt like. That swagger’s hard to knock off. When you win one, it’s hard to beat them.
“We’re really looking forward to it. I think it’ll be great for us.”
Next Game: 11/04
LAST TIME OUT
Clippers 102, Suns 96 – Another close game decided late in the fourth quarter, and another win for the Clippers. The second unit helped build a sizable lead in the second quarter and helped regain the lead late in the third, with five reserves scoring at least seven points apiece. Blake Griffin filled the box score again with 22 points and 10 rebounds, while both teams struggled from long range.
Warriors 119, Grizzlies 69 – The Warriors didn’t just beat a Memphis team that finished 55-27 last season; they handed the Grizzlies their worst loss in franchise history. Golden State held Memphis to a combined 27 points in the second and third quarters, while Stephen Curry recorded his third game with at least 30 points to start the season. The Warriors held the Grizzlies to 27.1 percent shooting.
NOTEWORTHY MATCHUP
Chris Paul vs. Stephen Curry – It’s been an entertaining matchup every time these two players have stepped on the court the last few years. The Clippers managed to hold Curry to fewer than 15 points in two games last year, while he scored at least 27 points in each of the other two matchups. Curry’s shooting a ridiculous 48.8 percent from 3-point range so far this year, and it’ll take Paul’s best effort to be the first point guard to slow Curry down this season.
Paul’s held the starting point guard in two of his four games thus far to four points. Most recently, the Clippers held Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight, who both came in averaging at least 20 points apiece per game, to a combined 28 points. Curry’s averaging 37 points, 6.3 assists and five rebounds per game, while Paul’s averaging 15.3 points, eight assists and 4.3 rebounds per game.
TWO THINGS TO WATCH
* Getting Defensive – The Clippers are in the top 10 in defensive efficiency earlier this year, but Rivers believes it can still get better, particularly when it comes to boxing out bigs when guards have to switch.
“When you switch on a big, you’re actually on the big on the inside,” Rivers said. “We’ve got to stay inside and let our bigs come back and get the rebounds.”
The Clippers know they’re going against one of the best defenses in the league, something Blake Griffin believes gets overlooked with how potent the Warriors’ offense is. The Warriors are second in the league in defensive efficiency through four games and were first last season.
“That’s what kind of sets them apart,” Griffin said.
* Back and Forth – These teams don’t care much for each other, and it’s led to plenty of back-and-forth comments in recent years. But head coach Doc Rivers believes his comments were taken out of context this summer when he said it takes luck to win a title, and Rivers’ players backed up their head coach.
“I saw what Doc said that was taken out of context to infer that they were somehow lucky, which they weren’t,” Redick said. “Basically what Doc said was they didn’t have any bad breaks. That was what he said. It wasn’t that they were lucky to win, which is a big, big difference.”
Griffin also said he knew what Rivers meant, because his coach talks about not only needing to have luck to win a title, but also about how teams make their own luck by winning the most regular season games as the Warriors did last year.
The Clippers respect what the Warriors have accomplished, but that hasn’t stopped more banter back and forth nearly every game. Josh Smith said it’ll be important for the Clippers to focus on themselves and not get bottled up in the emotions of the crowd and the trash talking.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
Doc Rivers – “You’re both as good as you’re record. They’re undefeated, we’re undefeated. No matter how many points you win by, the records are the same. But we’ll see. They’re the champs. They’re a really good basketball team.”
Blake Griffin – “We know what they are. They’re very good. They’re very confident right now and very lethal. We’ll go over some things, and we’ll be ready.”
Wesley Johnson – “It’s going to be a battle going up there. It’s going to be fun. It’s crazy. The fans get behind them and it’s like no other. It’s definitely one of those atmospheres you enjoy playing in.”
NOTES: The Warriors were the only Western Conference playoff team the Clippers didn’t beat twice last season … Griffin is averaging 29.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game … Griffin scored 40 points the last time the Clippers played the Warriors … DeAndre Jordan is leading the league with 4.5 blocks per game … Jamal Crawford just surpassed the 16,000 career-point mark … The Warriors have won all four of their games by double digits, scoring at least 111 points in each matchup … The Clippers are off to their fourth 4-0 start in franchise history …
