One Thing to Watch: The Clippers complete historic comeback against the Warriors
With the NBA, NHL, NASCAR and other major sports leagues and sporting events suspended or canceled, what better time to take a look back at some iconic sports moments? Each day, we’ll deliver One Thing to Watch.
From 2015-19, the Golden State Warriors were the class of the NBA.
The franchise appeared in five straight NBA Finals, winning three of them and cementing itself as one of the greatest dynasties in NBA history.
And even though things might have seemed easy for the Warriors when they were at the peak of their powers, that wasn’t the case every night.
Look no further than their first round Western Conference playoffs matchup against the 8-seed Los Angeles Clippers in 2019.
After winning Game 1 handily, 121-104, midway through the third quarter of Game 2, the Warriors once again had things under control – they led by 31 points over the apparently outmatched Clippers.
What would transpire over the final 19 minutes of the game would result in the greatest comeback in NBA playoff history.
After trailing 94-63 with 7:31 left in the third, the Clippers forced their way back into the game on the back of sixth man extraordinaire Lou Williams and his bench compatriot, Montrezl Harrell.
LAC entered the fourth quarter trailing, 108-94, but a combined 29 points in the fourth quarter from Harrell (15) and Williams (14) helped the Clippers pull off the most improbable of comebacks, winning by a score of 135-131.
Williams finished the game with 36 points, Harrell chipped in 26, and forward Danilo Gallinari scored 24.
The Warriors weren’t new to being on the wrong side of epic playoff comebacks, after losing the 2016 NBA Finals to the Cleveland Cavaliers despite having a 3-1 series lead.
However, that 2016 loss might explain why the team and their superstar Stephen Curry were able to keep things in perspective.
“It’s just one game. I know the circumstances are tough with that big of a lead at home but it’s the same mindset when you lose a game. It’s 1-1 and we have to go down to Los Angeles and take two.”
Curry proved to be prophetic, as the Warriors would go on to win each of the next two games in Los Angeles to take a 3-1 lead, eventually closing the series out in six games.
But for one night, the Clippers placed Golden State on the wrong side of history.
