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Christmas for Warriors coach Mark Jackson turned sour pretty quickly Sunday, ending with a 105-86 season-opening loss to the visiting Los Angeles Clippers.
Jackson’s debut as an NBA head coach, before a sell-out crowd and to a national TV audience, was tainted by a fourth-quarter collapse that suggested Warriors’ basketball hasn’t changed much. The man who has preached defense since being hired in June watched the Clippers, led by point guard Chris Paul, torch his team late, outscoring the Warriors 21-3 over a five-minute stretch.
The fourth quarter capped a forgettable second half for the Warriors defense. The Clippers shot 59 percent after half time.
“We gave up some easy baskets, some open looks that they knocked down” – point guard Stephen Curry said. “Defensively, we didn’t have our best performance in the second half.”
Jackson wasn’t so judicious with his words – “You have to get stops. Sixty four points in the second half just won’t cut it.”
In addition to its trademark shoddy defense, Golden State struggled offensively in the second half — especially the fourth quarter, where they missed 11 of their 17 attempts and turned it over five times. The Warriors got morsels from their top three offensive players in crunch time.
Starting point guard Stephen Curry, recovering from a sprained right ankle, decided to play just before the game. By game’s end, many Warriors fans probably wished he hadn’t.
Curry finished with four points on 2-for-12 shooting with four assists and four rebounds. He had three of his five turnovers during the Clippers’ game-cinching run.
“We are a no excuse basketball team” – Jackson said. “The turnovers that I saw him commit tonight had nothing to do with the ankle. He understands he has to do better.”

In one short burst of offensive shot making, Chris Paul proved what his value to the Los Angeles Clippers will be this season.
Three shots, three baskets. Game over.
It wasn’t just Paul who ensured LA’s season-opening 105-86 road victory over the Golden State Warriors on Christmas Day, but it was Paul who made sure the Clippers wouldn’t let this one get away.
Yes, there was some rust. And yes. There were the usual opening-night jitters, but the Clippers validated their legitimacy as a Western Conference contender. They’re the real thing.
Paul, who was acquired from the New Hornets for three players and a Number 1 draft pick, took the game in his hands down the stretch. He sank three consecutive jump shots to push a seven-point lead to 13 with 2 minutes, 38 seconds left in the game.
The Clippers outscored the Warriors 23-5 in the final minutes after Golden State had closed within 82-81.
Get used to this. The Clippers beat the Lakers in two exhibition games, but now that the curtain has risen on a new season, they’ve got to prove they’re capable of living up to the hype.
It’s only one game, but for starters, it was impressive. Paul and fellow guard Chauncey Billups combined for 41 points and 13 assists, DeAndre Jordan had a career – high eight blocked shots and Blake Griffin added 21 points. Mo Williams and Brian Cook made big shots off the bench.
“We started off really rusty” – Billups said. “It was to be expected, I guess, but it was good to get out there and play against some different bodies instead of banging each other in practice every day. It’s a good start to the season.”
Good because the Clippers had to work their way through some occasional rough patches. They had several defensive lapses in the first half, rebounded poorly on the offensive boards and hit one stretch in which they missed 13 consecutive shots. Paul missed 5 of his first 6 shots; Griffin was 3 for 9.
But Paul’s strength is his ability to create, to find the open man, to make sure his team doesn’t lose its way. And he did that, superbly.

Game Shots:
1 – If you’re going to be a bad team, then at least be entertaining- especially at home. This game was ugly. Maybe it’s the lockout, maybe it’s poor coaching (let’s face it Vinny Del Negro and Mark Jackson are two of the worst coaches in the NBA), but this was not a pretty game. On offense the Warriors just stunk up the joint with 39% FG and 23.8% 3pt. Nellieball this ain’t.
2 – Chris Paul looked rather pedestrian in the first half and only shot 1 for 6. The second half was a different story however. It was like he flipped a switch and decided to become CP3. Down the stretch in the 4th Paul was just clutch. He was taking and making big shots off the dribble seemingly at ease. He wound up with 20 points, 9 dimes, and 2 picks. Surprisingly I don’t recall him running the pick and roll with Blake Griffin or DeAndre Jordan, but I’m sure that will change.
3 – You don’t see many nights when the Monta Ellis and Stephen Curry look this bad. They shot a combined 8 for 31 and had 9 turnovers. Curry looked especially out of sync. I wonder if it was a mistake to even play him tonight given his ankle issues.
4 – Andris Biedrins had a fantastic outing. It has been quite some time since he brought so much energy on defense and finished so well. He was a force in the paint with 3 swats and was a perfect 5 for 5 around the bucket. Biedrins outplayed and out-hustled the Clips big man the Warriors wanted to desperately dump him for. Keep boosting that trade value Biedrins!
5 – Do Griffin and DeAndre Jordan know how to box out?
6 – Coach Jackson tried a hack-a-DeAndre in the 3rd. I don’t think it did much. If Del Negro was smart he would have countered with a hack-a-Biedrins, but again we’re not exactly talking about the NBA coaching elite here.
7 – If Caron Butler stays healthy, credit the Clippers with a great signing. I really liked his all-around game tonight with 11 points, 10 boards, 4 assists, and 3 steals.
8 – It really looked like Chauncey Billups was trying to give the Clips a reason to ship him out. He came out firing blanks and took a lot of ball-hog-type shots.
9 – Brandon Rush looked very solid tonight. I can’t believe he’s listed as a shooting guard. He’s a very big 6’6 225 pounds. Shoot, he could probably play center for Nellie! He could wind up being a very nice offseason acquisition.
10 – Kwame Brown is one big dude. He looked much bigger than DeAndre Jordan out there!
11 – Brian Cook is still in the league?!
12 – The Warriors looked bad tonight, but it’s only one game after a long NBA lockout for Coach Jackson’s team. Even if they won big tonight I’d say the same thing. Let’s take a wait and see approach…