OAKLAND, Calif. _ His prophecy came true, much to the chagrin of Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers.
He predicted before the game that it was going to take the Clippers scoring an abundance of points in order to have a chance at defeating the high-octane offense that is the Golden State Warriors.
The Clippers did score a lot, but the Warriors being the Warriors still scored more in pulling out a 134-127 victory over L.A. Thursday night at Oracle Arena before 19,596 entertained fans.
The Clippers seven had players score in double figures, but Stephen Curry had 44 points to nearly offset that on his own.
The Clippers shot 50 percent from the field, but the Warriors shot 62.7 percent.
The Clippers made 34.4 percent of their three-pointers, but the Warriors made 56 percent of their three-pointers.
The Clippers had a season-high 32 assists, but the Warriors were right behind them with 31.
So, yes, offense ruled this game.
"At the end of the day, it was an offensive game," Doc Rivers said. "And they just made more shots."
The Clippers didn't help their cause by falling into an 18-point hole in the first half and 16 in the third quarter.
But they did not quit, closing to within 104-102 in the fourth with Lou Williams, Tyrone Wallace, Danilo Gallinari, Milos Teodosic and Montrezl Harrell on the court.
"This group, they just keep coming," Doc Rivers said. "Like we had different groups on the floor and they just coming and that's how we have to play every night."
Williams, who had 21 points and tied his career high 12 assists, pulled the Clippers to within 120-118.
But the Warriors answered with a basket by Andre Iguodala and back-to-back three-pointers by Curry that gave the Warriors a 125-118 lead that was safe.
"Step was incredible," Austin Rivers, who had 14 points said. "As he always is."
Gallinari suffered a bruised right hand in the fourth quarter, coming out the game with five minutes, 10 seconds left and never returning after scoring 15 points. Gallinari had X-rays after the game that were negative for a broken hand.
"When Draymond (Green) fouled me, he came down with an elbow right on my hand," Gallinari said. "It's swelling a little bit. I hope I can play tomorrow. I'll take a couple of pills and get ready for Phoenix (Friday)."
The Clippers defense got shredded during the part of the of the first quarter, allowing the Warriors to make a sizzling 72.7 percent of their shots, forcing Doc Rivers to call a time out with six minutes, 42 seconds remaining in the quarter and his team down 19-11.
By the end of the quarter, after Curry hoisted a 38-foot three-pointer that settled into the nets as the buzzer sounded to end the first, the Clippers found themselves down by 11 points after allowing the Warriors to make 66.7 percent of their shots.
Worse, the Clippers' three-point defense was awful, allowing the Warriors to make 80 percent (four-for-five) of their threes.
The Clippers fell down even further, getting behind 46-28 in the second quarter.
But when the Clippers started to play some defense from that point on, they closed their gap to 70-58 at the half.
"We had some really bad defensive mistakes and it ends that quickly," Austin Rivers said. "We were playing catchup the whole game. They beat us. Some nights you just tip your hat off to the opponent."
