NBA: Warriors win as Clippers suffer second loss in a row

2013 has not been kind to the Los Angeles Clippers so far. After winning 17 games in a row in the month of December, the Clippers have so far fallen in their two January assignments, the latest being a 115-94 defeat at the hands of the Golden State Warriors, Wednesday (Thursday, PHL time) at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. The Clippers sank to 25-8, while the Warriors improved to 22-10, after winning their last four, to continue to move up the Western Conference standings. [Related: Nuggets end Clippers 17-game winning streak] The Clippers led for just a brief moment, getting a triple from Matt Barnes on their first possession of the game to go up 3-0, but the Warriors countered with an 11-4 run to move up to 11-7, and then tacked on a 15-1 burst for a whopping 18-point advantage, 26-8, with 4:14 left in the first period. A five-point solo explosion by reserve Jamal Crawford had it down to a two-point advantage for Golden State, 43-41, at the 5:41 mark of the second period, but triples by Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry restored Golden State's double-digit lead, as they entered the break up 62-49. In the third, Chris Paul looked to trigger another Clippers rally, scoring eight and then assisting on back-to-back shots to make it a 10-point game, 72-62, but once again, the Warriors were undeterred, exploding for a 12-2 blast that put them up by 18 at the end of the third. LA never really threatened after that. Point guard Stephen Curry scored a game-high 31 points to lead the Warriors. He converted 6-of-8 from beyond the arc, hauled in six rebounds, and dished out eight assists as well. David Lee similarly padded the stats sheet with 24 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists, while Klay Thompson fired in 19 markers. Chris Paul had 23 points and six dimes, while Jamal Crawford came off the bench for 24. Blake Griffin had a relatively quiet outing, shooting 2-of-11 en route to 10 points. The Warriors hit a whopping 12-of-23 from downtown, compared to just 8-of-29 for the Clippers. Golden State also out-rebounded their foes, 53-38, improving to 20-2 this season when they've collared more rebounds than their opponents. - AMD, GMA News