Clippers drop Game 1 at home to Warriors

The sixth-seeded Golden State Warriors upset the third-seeded Los Angeles Clippers in Game 1 by a score of 109-105. 

Clippers point guard Chris Paul topped all scorers with 28, and spearheaded a fierce comeback late in the fourth quarter. The Warriors led for the entirety of the fourth until Paul hit a three-pointer with just over two minutes left to tie the game at 102 apiece.

The game remained close into its final minutes. Warriors point guard Stephen Curry missed a go-ahead attempt with 24 seconds left, but Clippers guard Darren Collison fouled Draymond Green on a loose-ball foul, and he promptly sank both to give the Warriors the lead.

On the ensuing possession, Paul dribbled out of bounds with 19 seconds left. This forced the Clippers to intentionally foul Warriors forward Harrison Barnes, who made both his free throws.  

With Golden State up three points, head coach Mark Jackson decided to intentionally foul Paul. The gamble paid off, as Paul missed both free throws, despite being a career 85% shooter from the line. From there, the Warriors managed to hold on for the win.

In the absence of center Andrew Bogut, who is out with a rib fracture, the Warriors elected to go small for sizeable swaths of the game with Draymond Green playing power forward alongside David Lee. The Clippers struggled to take advantage of the Warriors' lack of size on offense, and were spread out by the wealth of shooting on defense, which resulted in a number of open driving lanes for the Warriors.

The Clippers toiled through without All-Star power forward Blake Griffin, who was forced to sit for large stretches of the game due to foul trouble. He eventually did foul out in the final minute of regulation, and finished with 20 points and three rebounds in 19 minutes played.

Both teams saw tepid returns from key wing players. Warriors forward Andre Iguodala battled foul trouble for the majority of the night, and eventually fouled out while defending a drive from Paul in the fourth quarter. For the Clippers, shooting guard Jamal Crawford struggled to find his shot, as he only shot 2-for-11 from the field, which was only marginally better than his teammate Darren Collison, who had eight points on 2-of-9 shooting.