So what are the Golden State Warriors going to do? They got the split that they wanted before they left Los Angeles, and yet, they probably feel like they were gutted and left for dead after the 138-98, 40-point beatdown that the Los Angeles Clippers put on them in Game 2. So did the Warriors actually accomplish anything?
That is what Game 3 is going to be about for Mark Jackson and the young Warriors, it is going to be about how mentally tough they really are. They could look at that beatdown two different ways. "The Dubs" could look at that game like, "We only lost like that cause we were satisfied and we will get back to playing intense basketball at home", or ,"We need to raise our level of play cause the Clippers are not messing with us". The first train of thought has an excuse in it and does not speak to playing with any urgency. The second train of thought takes accountability for the lackluster performance and speaks to needing urgency in their next outing.
Doc Rivers and his Clippers needed to blowout the Warriors for their mental anyway. "Lob City' got hit in the mouth in Game 1 by a Warriors team that appeared to be mentally tougher. The way that the Warriors did not panic and simply hit big shots after giving up the 98-90 lead they built with under five minutes left, had to hit the Clippers ego wrong. Then when you add on that Chris Paul missed two big momentum swinging costless throws at the end of that game that gave the Warriors even more confidence to close the deal on LAC, it made the urgency to blowout the Warriors that much more important in Game 2.
So for Game 3, what should we expect? We should expect both teams coming to the court with equal intensity and urgency. Stephen Curry and the Warriors are going to feed off the Oracle Arena crowd for sure since they are going to be raucous tonight.
The Warriors are going to need to figure out a way to take Blake Griffin out of the equasion for "Lob City". So far in this series it has been easy math to figure out. If Blake is in foul trouble, life is easy on "The Dubs", if Blake is able to stay on the floor, life is hell on "The Dubs". Blake Griffin made up for his 16 point effort and foul trouble in Game 1, with 35 points on 13 of 17 shooting in Game 2. The Warriors, and in particular Klay Thompson, have done a good job on Chris Paul so far in this series and that needs to continue. Finally, Mark Jackson's bunch would really benefit from having a Andre Iguodala sighting tonight. In Game 1 "Iggy" fouled out and in Game 2 he finished with four points. Andre Iguodala needs to turn in a solid all-around game tonight.
For the Los Angeles Clippers, it is going to be imperative that they take the Oracle crowd out of the game. They have got to keep the Bay Area fans quiet so the young Warriors have nothing to feed off of. Also, they need to figure out how to get Chris Paul involved, which is kind of strange to say considering that he has the ball in his hands the majority of the game. The Warriors have done a great job of keeping him in check, but with CP3 being the competitor he is, that could be short lived starting tonight. The last thing is that the Clippers bench needs to show up again for Doc Rivers. The Clippers bench scored 59 points in Game 2, which is a far cry from the 26 that they contributed in Game 1. If the Clippers can get some consistent bench scoring they will be hard to beat for the rest of this series and beyond.
This promises to be the most exciting matchup of the night. It will be a highly competitve game and the crowd is going to provide a great playoff atmosphere. You would be silly not to take this game in.