The Golden State Warriors faced a tough challenge without their star player, Stephen Curry, falling to the Los Angeles Clippers 102-92 on Friday night. With this third straight loss, the Warriors are now down to a 15-15 record, while the Clippers are up at 18-13.
The team felt Stephen Curry’s absence on the court due to his knee injury management. Jonathan Kuminga tried to fill the gap with an impressive 34 points off the bench, but it wasn’t enough.
On the flip side, the Clippers had a strong team effort, with Norman Powell scoring 24 points and James Harden adding 18 points and seven assists. The Warriors struggled with their shooting, hitting just 37% of their shots, even though they started strong by outrebounding the Clippers 47-39.
Warriors lose 102-92 to Clippers. 3rd straight loss, dropped to .500 for the first time this season.
— вяуαηт (@bryant_gotgame) December 28, 2024
Low scoring game tonight. No Steph or Draymond but the bench and TJD had solid games on the back of JK putting up a career high 34 pts. The defense forced 21 turnovers but the… pic.twitter.com/ztTvdJW7DR
However, missing both Curry and Draymond Green in the final moments hurt the Warriors. Coach Steve Kerr admitted the team needs more players to step up when Curry isn’t playing.
Steve Kerr’s inspiring words after Warriors’ tough loss
Coach Steve Kerr knows Steph Curry might miss more games to rest his knees, and Draymond Green could also need time off as the season continues. Anyway, Kerr had a positive message for his team even though they lost by 10 points to the Los Angeles Clippers.
Kerr found hope in the team’s fourth-quarter performance, especially in Jonathan Kuminga. He found encouragement in the team’s performance during those 12 minutes, despite their inability to turn the game around. He wants the Warriors to bring that same energy every time they hit the court.
Steve said, “I was inspired watching that group. That was fantastic. You know down 20, 21 whatever it was. Kept fighting and you know love the defensive energy. It’s just something we haven’t down well in the last couple of weeks.”
