Here’s the San Francisco Chronicle Blog reporting on the Golden State Warriors, who took care of business and tied their first-round playoff series with the Los Angeles Clippers Sunday:
For the first time in their best-of-seven, first-round series against the Clippers, the Warriors started a small lineup in Game 4 at Oracle Arena – a move that allowed them to play quicker and with more assertiveness, freed Stephen Curry for offensive openings and tied the series with a with a resounding 118-97 victory.
With the series knotted 2-2 and shifting back to Los Angeles for Tuesday’s Game 5, the Clippers are suddenly the team pressing to make adjustments – a marked change from two days ago, when they appeared to have all of the answers and all of the momentum.
Draymond Green got his second career postseason start and his first this season – bumping David Lee to center and moving Jermaine O’Neal to the bench – and helped the Warriors grab a lead that the held for the game’s final 45 minutes, 54 seconds.
Using mostly a smallball lineup throughout the game, the Warriors’ offense showcased harmonious ball movement to create space for Curry’s game-changing shooting stroke and produced team-wide 55.4 percent shooting and 32 assists on 41 made field goals.
