The Golden State Warriors lost a close game to the Los Angeles Clippers, 103-102, at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, on Jan. 5.
The contest was officially decided on a missed potential game-winning baseline fade away from Warriors forward Jimmy Butler, who ended the game with 24 points and four steals.
There was a controversial missed goaltend call with 7:57 left in the fourth quarter that led to a furious Warriors head coach Steve Kerr being ejected when the team was gaining momentum after trailing most of the game.
With just around eight minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, the Warriors were down 81-74, and looked to cut into the Clippers lead after starting the period down by 10. Draymond Green found Gary Payton II on a backdoor cut, who then went for a layup off the backboard.
Clippers forward John Collins was credited with a block on Payton but replays showed the Payton had the ball on the glass before Collins made contact and should have been called a goaltend, according the 2025-26 NBA Rulebook. The score would have been 81-76, but instead it was 81-74.
An irate Kerr who was upset with the missed goaltend call, went screaming after an official, and had to be restrained by Payton and assistant coach Terry Stotts. Kerr received back-to-back technical fouls at 7:57 in the fourth quarter and was ejected from the game. Stotts took over as coach for the remainder of the game.
Stotts spoke to reporters after the game in place of Kerr and explained he was answering questions instead of Kerr ‘because I’m saving Steve some money.’
‘What particularly? I think it was that goaltending call that was missed. There were probably some other things, but that was the last straw, probably. I don’t want to speak for Steve,’ Stotts said after the game. ‘I didn’t see a replay but it seemed at the time that it was obvious that it was a goaltend.’
After a Collins made technical free throw and Kris Dunn adding two more free ones after getting fouled, the Clippers led by 10.
Their lead grew to 13 with under five minutes in the game, but one last push from Golden State got them to within a one-possession game.
Warriors guard Stephen Curry scored 27 points and had three steals, his night ended early when he fouled out the game with 42.7 seconds left in the game and his team down, 101-100.
Kawhi Leonard led the Clippers with 24 points, while rookie guard and Southern California native Kobe Sanders scored a career-high 20 points and added seven rebounds.
Los Angeles is now 13-22 and is 11th in the Western Conference standings, while Golden State is 19-18 at the No. 8 spot.
Warriors vs. Clippers highlights
Clippers vs. Warriors game notes
It was all Clippers in the first period as they led the Warriors, 31-19.
In the second quarter, Warriors outscored the clippers 32-24, but still Golden State trailed Los Angeles, 55-51 at the half. Curry had 12 points in the second quarter, 14 in the half. Leonard had 14 points in the half for the Clippers.
The Clippers’ lead grew to double-digits by the end of the third quarter but the Warriors wouldn’t go away.
Green sparked a 4th quarter run with his defensive presence which turned to easy offense for Payton and Gui Santos when it wasn’t it was all eyes on Curry.
A controversial no-call on what was believed to be a goaltend led to Kerr’s ejection. The Warriors would have been down by five but instead found themselves back at a 10-point deficit, which grew to 13.
Butler scored timely baskets, as did Curry but that stopped when he fouled out with 42 seconds in the game. Green scored to give them one more chance. Butler missed the game-winner.
‘I haven’t seen the replay but live it looked like a goaltend,’ Green said to reporters after the game. ‘Our group kept fighting. That’s what gotta do in that situation and we did. It’s just unfortunate we couldn’t come out with the win.’
Green added: ‘I thought we played well. We couldn’t hit shots. We missed a lot of shots, shots that normally make or can make. We took care of the ball. We defended without fouling. I thought we did a lot of good things. We forced turnovers. We just didn’t capitalize enough.’
Warriors’ keys to the game
Unselfish play, spread the ball around: When the Warriors are at their best, they are playing a well-rounded version of team basketball. Everyone is in motion, getting good looks whether at the rim or open shots. The key will be to knock down those looks when the opportunity arises. Warriors just missed shots, going 38% on 92 field goals including 24% on 41 three-point attempts.
Who’s the answer for Kawhi: Warriors will have to throw multiple defenders at Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard to try and stop him. Expect heightened defensive focus from everyone, especially De’Anthony Melton, Gary Payton Jr., Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler. It was a good job, defensively, on Kawhi. He scored 27 but shot 10-of-25 and had five turnovers.
Productivity from bench: Bench production is key for the Warriors. When they’re playing together and get going, they can compliment Golden State’s stars well. Last game they outscored Utah’s bench, 46-30. Warriors bench outscored the Clippers’ bench 36-15.
Warriors’ next five games
- Jan. 7 vs. Milwaukee Bucks
- Jan. 9 vs. Sacramento Kings
- Jan. 11 vs. Atlanta Hawks
- Jan. 13 vs. Portland Trail Blazers
- Jan. 15 vs. New York Knicks