(The Sports Xchange) – Guard Klay Thompson scored 32 points and forward Draymond Green recorded his NBA-leading 11th triple-double, allowing the Golden State Warriors to bounce back from their worst showing of the season with a 115-112 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday at Staples Center.
Guard Stephen Curry had 23 points and nine assists as the Warriors (49-5) returned to their winning ways following a 137-105 beat down by the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night.
Green finished with 18 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists as Golden State defeated the Clippers for their fifth straight time. Forward Harrison Barnes also had 18 points.
Guard Jamal Crawford came off the bench to score 25 points to lead the Clippers (36-19). Crawford also notched his 47th career regular-season four-point play in the second quarter. J.J. Redick had 16 points.
The Clippers made it close in the final 35 seconds, getting three straight 3-point buckets. After guard C.J. Wilcox hit one, guard Pablo Prigioni hit two in a row to cut the Warriors’ lead to three with 5.1 seconds left in the contest.
However, Wilcox’ 3-point attempt just before the final horn was well short.
The Warriors held a 93-84 edge heading into the final quarter. They increased the margin to 110-92 after a 3-pointer by Harrison Barnes on a beautiful assist by guard Shaun Livingston and a layup by Green with 5:20 remaining.
Golden State dictated from the start. The Warriors built a double-digit lead in the first quarter before earning a 63-53 advantage at the break. They shot 56.1 percent in the first half, making 61.1 percent in the second quarter, to 43.2 percent for the Clippers.
For the game, Golden State hit 51.2 percent of its shots to 44.7 percent for Los Angeles. The Clippers converted 13 of 36 (36.1 percent) of their 3-point attempts to 11 of 31 (35.5 percent) for the Warriors.
Forward Jeff Green made his Clippers’ debut. Green, who was acquired from the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for swingman Lance Stephenson and a protected first-round pick, had five points against Golden State.
The Warriors played without center Andrew Bogut, who missed the contest with a strained right Achilles’ tendon.
