Ivica Zubac had 23 points, 18 rebounds and six assists and James Harden added 23 points and 11 assists to help the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Warriors 112-104 in Golden State’s home opener in San Francisco on Sunday night.
Norman Powell had 20 points and Derrick Jones Jr. chipped in 18 for the Clippers, who saw a 13-point lead in the fourth trimmed to 101-100 on Andrew Wiggins’ 3-pointer with 3:47 remaining.
But Harden drove for a layup and Powell blocked Buddy Hield’s 3-point attempt and made a 20-footer at the other end to give the Clippers a 105-100 lead with 3:01 left.
Warriors star Stephen Curry left the game with 2:43 left in the third quarter after suffering a sprained left ankle. He didn’t leave the bench area and was reinserted into the contest with 8:08 remaining in the fourth and the Warriors down 93-85.
But his return lasted just 13 seconds, as he was subbed out for Wiggins, who finished with a game-high 29 points, with 7:55 remaining. Curry finished with 18 points in 27 minutes. He made four of his seven 3-point attempts and added six assists.
The Clippers have won back-to-back games on the road after losing their season opener to the Phoenix Suns in overtime. Jones shot 7 of 10 from the floor and Powell went 8-for-15 as Los Angeles shot 46.7 percent overall.
Wiggins made 11 of 15 shots, including five of his eight 3-point attempts, for Golden State, which was coming off back-to-back blowout wins on the road to open the season. The Warriors averaged 133.5 points in the two wins.
Jonathan Kuminga chipped in with 12 points for Golden State, while Kevon Looney had 10 points and 11 rebounds off the bench.
Los Angeles held a 59-54 advantage at the break behind 15 points from Harden and 14 from Jones.
–Field Level Media
