It's official. The Golden State Warriors have the Clippers number.
The Splash Brothers dropped 50 points and the Warriors blew out Los Angeles, 133-120, for their ninth consecutive victory over the Clippers.
Sure, Thursday's 13-point thumping wasn't as bad as Dub Nation's 46-point demolition last Saturday in Oakland, but the Warriors were playing without three big men in Draymond Green, Zaza Pachulia and David West.
In retort, the Clippers can say they played without Chris Paul. But whether it's Paul, Blake Griffin, Green or Kevin Durant, the gap between the two teams is wider then Michael Strahan's.
Unless you're Steve Ballmer, nobody can say they "own" the Clippers more so then the Warriors.
What was once a budding rivalry has now become a one-sided affair with the Warriors as the wrecking crew, destroying everything in their path, including the Clippers "Big Three" of Blake Griffin, Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan.
Since the thrilling first round playoff series in 2014 that saw the Clippers escape their neighbors to north by the skin of their teeth, L.A. has lost 10 of their last 11 against the reigning Western Conference Champions, including the last three games this season by a combined 96 points.
"Yes, they have our number," admitted Clippers head coach Doc Rivers. "They've won nine in a row, they're the better team until we prove differently."
Just to prove how far apart these two teams are, the Clippers have lost the last nine straight games by an average of 14 points, allowing the Warriors to eclipse the century mark in scoring in all nine of those defeats.
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"We have to figure out how to play them, because they've beaten us nine straight times," said Jamal Crawford who scored 21 points off the bench. "We'll get another look at them, but obviously they're playing with a lot of confidence. We need to figure them out."
To add insult to injury, the Clippers co-tenants, the Lakers have more victories (3) over the Warriors then the Clippers do over the same span.
Thursday night in front of a sold out Staples Center crowd was simply more of the same. The Warriors led wire-to-wire and rested reigning MVP Steph Curry for the majority of the fourth quarter for the second straight night.
Curry did most of his damage early, scoring 29 points to go with 10 assists and three steals. His three shots from long distance in the game, gave him 202 on the season, the fifth consecutive season he's drained 200+ three pointers, an NBA record.
"When you get off to a good start on the road, it's important," said Curry. "You don't want to be fighting an uphill battle, so, we came out with intent."
Curry's running mate and co-player of the month in the Western Conference for January, Kevin Durant, chipped in 26 points and Thompson had 21.
Blake Griffin led all scorers with 31 points in a losing effort and J.J. Redick had 17. No other starter scored in double-figures for Los Angeles.
"We have to play harder," Griffin said of how the Clippers can beat the Warriors when they see them again in a couple weeks. "We will look at the film and probably tweak a couple things, but playing hard and executing our game plan."
The Clippers night was summarized perfectly by former Warriors center Mo Speights who was critical of the Clippers early in the season after a 17-point lopsided loss to Golden State at home in December.
Speights took a pass and rose to the rim for what should have been a monster one-handed dunk on Durant. Unfortunately, Speights was instead met by the rim and he not only missed the slam, but hit the floor hard on his back. The Warriors went the other way in transition and scored in easy bucket while Speights lay on the floor, much to the delight of his former teammates who celebrated on the visiting bench.
Mo! Noooo pic.twitter.com/WEYSAQXKw4 — Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 3, 2017
The Clippers lone highlight of the night came on a posterizing dunk by Griffin on Warriors forward Kevon Looney in the second quarter. The monster dunk, momentarily ignited the Staples Center crowd, but the excitement was short-lived as the outcome of the game was never in doubt.
Downright disrespectful �� (➡️ @pringles) pic.twitter.com/vfkWTdpFlc — Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 3, 2017
At this point, it's obvious the Clippers are not in the same class as the Warriors. Golden State's young nucleus has grown tremendously since their first round defeat to the Clippers in 2014.
They've risen to the top of the NBA, and have been to back-to-back NBA Finals, winning one, and losing the second, despite breaking the NBA regular season record for a team in a single season with 73 wins.
"They won a championship," said Jordan about the different directions the two teams have gone since that 2014 playoff series. "We've got to get better, because we're not doing it. We've got to get better, period."
Unfortunately for the Clippers, they wont have much time to figure out why they can't overcome the immovable object that is Golden State as they head out on a five-game road trip that ends with a date with Warriors on February 23rd.
"We have to be more organized against them," said Reddick on how they can beat the Warriors. "We have five tough games going up on this trip (including the Warriors) and we have to find a way to win them all."
