OAKLAND -- The Los Angeles Clippers will come into Oracle Arena knowing that winning means shifting home-court advantage in their favor and losing nudges them ever closer to vacation.
So the Warriors know the Clippers will be desperate to win Monday night when the teams meet for Game 2 of their NBA playoff first-round series. Pregame coverage on NBC Sports Bay Area begins at 6 p.m, with Warriors Outsiders, followed by Warriors Pregame, with tip-off scheduled for 7:40 p.m.
[RELATED: How to watch Warriors-Clippers Game 2 live online]
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By virtue of a 121-104 win in Game 1 on Saturday, the favored Warriors have a 1-0 lead in the series. They also learned that even when Stephen Curry is brilliant -- as in 38 points on 16 shots and a career-high 15 rebounds -- they need to do better.
After all, they committed 21 turnovers, six by center DeMarcus Cousins, who in his playoff debut fouled out in 21 minutes.
LA needs to find production from sources other than ace reserves Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell, who combined for 51 points in Game 1. The starting lineup totaled just 39 points.
PROJECTED LINEUPS
Golden State Warriors
Warriors
F Kevin Durant
F Draymond Green
C DeMarcus Cousins
G Klay Thompson
G Stephen Curry
Clippers
F Danilo Gallinari
C Ivica Zubac
G Patrick Beverley
G Landry Shamet
G Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
INJURY REPORT
Warriors
C Damian Jones (left pectoral surgery) is listed as out.
Clippers
None reported.
ROTATION OUTLOOK
Warriors
Expect Cousins to bounce back from a poor Game 1, the first postseason appearance of his career, in which he totaled nine points (4-12 FG) and nine rebounds (along with the six turnovers) before fouling out in 21 minutes.
Thompson also had a subpar offensive game, scoring 12 points (5-of-14 FG, 1-of-6 3PT). He was, however, a factor on defense, with three blocks and one steal.
Coach Steve Kerr reiterated that the Hamptons 5 (Curry, Durant, Green, Thompson and Andre Iguodala) is his go-to unit, pointing out that group has better numbers than any lineup in the NBA.
Kevon Looney (plus-30 in 17 minutes) and Iguodala (plus-19 in 26 minutes) were highly effective, particularly on defense in Game 1 and likely will play similar minutes in Game 2.
Clippers
Coach Doc Rivers experimented in Game 1, putting the 6-foot-1 Beverley on the 6-foot-11 Durant, and got mixed results. That won’t be nearly enough to alter the series, so it’s conceivable Beverley will return to his usual assignment, Curry, who torched LA (38 points, 11-of-16 FG, 8-of-12 3PT).
After achieving great success with the Williams-Harrell pick-and-roll, there’s no reason to go away from it. Even though the Warriors will make adjustments, LA would be wise to stay with it until it’s no longer effective.
The key for the Clippers is to get more offense from the rest of the team, specifically Gallinari and Shamet, who combined to shoot 5-of-20 in Game 1. Apart from Williams and Harrell, LA shot 27.6 percent (16-of-58) from the field.
Officials
Ken Mauer (crew chief), Josh Tiven, Nick Buchert