Epic comebacks and the Clippers now appear to go hand in hand. When the Clippers recovered a 31 point deficit against the Warriors in the 2019 season, the Warriors were shocked, the rest of the NBA was shocked, but the Clippers were not. The Clippers know that they have the ability to turnover games from any point and that having a never say die attitude will help them in every game in every quarter, no matter the scoreline.
The Clippers had already recovered a 28 point loss against the Celtics earlier in the season and the coach Doc Rivers has now coached three different 20 point comebacks in his career (the most notable being the 24 point recovery against the Lakers in the 2008 NBA finals), the most of any coach in the last 20 years.
The game clearly didn’t start well for the Clippers. During the third quarter, the Warriors were 31 points ahead and the odds of a Clippers win was a probability of 0.01. Yet while the Clippers united, became more aggressive, played harder, the Warriors went into coast mode with Steve Kerr, the Warriors coach, admitting that they just stopped playing.
Lou Williams was the star of the comeback virtually taking the game back to parity on his own. The warriors couldn’t cope with the more aggressive nature of the game with both Curry and Durant struggling with repeated fouls.
The Warriors have had a strong record in recent times after four consecutive NBA finals. The team has an inner belief in their approach to the game that they are the best on the court at any time. It makes them a strong force even when the chips are down. Unfortunately on this particular night, they didn’t turn up for the second half of the game. It was a valuable lesson for the Warriors that a game isn’t over until the clock runs out.
