\n<\/p>\n
This post is excerpted from The Athletic’s NBA newsletter, The Bounce. Sign up here to receive The Bounce directly in your inbox.<\/strong><\/p>\n The season looked over early for the Warriors last night. Steph Curry<\/strong> left in the first quarter and walked to the locker room. Golden State fans everywhere were resigned to a frustrating season collapsing on itself without the franchise legend.<\/p>\n But \u2026 everything was fine. Curry walked back to the bench, checked back in and bided his time on the court until the third quarter. That\u2019s when he started hitting the LA Clippers with waves of scoring, and you knew he wasn\u2019t going away.<\/p>\n Curry \u2014 who has been on a minutes restriction since coming back recently from a knee injury \u2014 scored 16 points in a 10-minute stretch in the third quarter, then followed that with 11 more in the fourth quarter to erase a 13-point lead by LA. He finished with a game-high 35 as Golden State won 126-121 and ended the Clippers\u2019 season. <\/p>\n Draymond Green<\/strong> also put on a defensive clinic to close out the game. He stole the ball on an inbound pass with the Warriors up by three after a Steph triple. Green then ripped the dribble from Kawhi Leonard<\/strong>\u2019s massive hands on the next play, leading to a Curry free throw. In the midst of all that, Al Horford<\/strong> hit a massive 3-pointer, and Kristaps Porzi\u0146\u0123is<\/strong> had a big 20-point game.<\/p>\n Championship know-how can be overblown when it comes to sports, but watching the Warriors put up 43 points on the Clippers in the fourth quarter reminds you what that looks like. No, these Warriors can\u2019t go on a fairy tale run and join the Western Conference contenders. We don\u2019t even know if they can beat Phoenix tomorrow in the battle for the No. 8 seed.(And, yes, we\u2019re already excited about another Draymond-Dillon Brooks<\/strong> incident.)<\/p>\n However, every once in a while, they can blow up your fourth-quarter lead and end your season. Then Chris Paul dances on your grave.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n