The Golden State Warriors made an afternoon appearance at Staples Center, and unfortunately for the Clippers, they're the ones that came away with the win. Behind 37 points from rookie Anthony Morrow, along with 17 points and five boards from former Clipper Corey Maggette, the Dubs got the win by a count of 121-103.
It was an admittedly emotional game for Baron Davis, who played three and a half seasons for the Warriors and helped them to revive their franchise by being the leader on an eighth seeded team that dethroned the top-seeded Dallas Mavericks in the 2006-07 playoffs. Yesterday, Baron discussed just how tough it was for him to leave Golden State.
"I've never been hurt like that," Davis said. "I was hurt. It kind of gave me like a bad feeling. It is a business. That's the sad thing about it, that at any point and time you can be separated from your family. And it's not that your family wants you to go. It's not your neighbors want you to go. It's just people who don't really have an effect on the game are, I guess, the people who own the block."
Davis did all he could to try to propel his current team to a victory over his old one, playing 44 of the 48 minutes and finishing with 25 points and 11 assists. He did only shoot 3-10 from three-point land, but that was hardly the reason the Clippers lost this one. L.A. was cold for the game, shooting just 39% from the field, while their defense continued to let them down, allowing an undrafted rookie to completely go off and steal the show.
Anthony Morrow -- who you've probably never heard of -- scored 37 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in his first career NBA start, shooting a ridiculous 15-20 from the field. Morrow played on the Warriors' summer league squad, and I guess the team liked what they saw, because they signed him to a contract when no other team seemed interested. Before we go on and on about how great this rookie might be though, let's be honest: this was the second straight game that the Clips were torched from the guard spot, as the Kings' Beno Udrih dropped 30 on them in their last outing.
Defensively, it's almost unconscionable to give up 121 points at home to a team like Golden State, who likes to play uptempo but hardly has the horses to do so now that Davis is gone and Monta Ellis and Al Harrington are sidelined with injuries. Defense is about effort more than anything else, and at the moment, it seems like the Clippers just aren't that interested in putting it out there.
