A pair of long-distance shooting legends will go head-to-head Monday when the Los Angeles Clippers host the Golden State Warriors at Inglewood, Calif.
The Clippers’ James Harden moved into second place all-time in 3-pointers made when he hit a shot from distance in the first quarter of Sunday’s 116-105 victory over the Utah Jazz that ended a three-game road losing streak.
The first of Harden’s two made 3-pointers on the night gave him 2,974 to move him out of a tie with Ray Allen. The all-time leader is the Warriors’ Stephen Curry, who is far ahead with 3,782 made 3s.
“I’m one of the most confident guys we have in this league, but no, I probably won’t catch Steph, and I don’t think anybody will, honestly,” Harden said with a chuckle. “I don’t know man. He can shoot the s— out of the ball.”
In order to put on a showcase of long-distance shooting Monday, Harden will have to do better than the 2-of-8 shooting clip he delivered against the Jazz, when he finished with 20 points, 11 assists and six rebounds with no turnovers out of the point-guard spot.
Ivica Zubac had 22 points with 11 rebounds, while Norman Powell scored 19 points as Los Angeles won its fourth consecutive home game after losing the first four games of the season in its new arena.
The Clippers led by as many as 23 points in the third quarter and held on when the Jazz cut the lead to single digits with just over four minutes remaining. Los Angeles finished the game with nine turnovers.
“Taking care of the basketball was huge,” Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue said. “The ball was moving, the ball was hopping and we made the right play.”
The Warriors enter on a three-game winning streak. They are on a run of eight victories in their past nine games following their 123-118 home victory at home over the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday.
The contest was notable for the Warriors’ Draymond Green intentionally tripping the Grizzlies’ Zach Edey in a move that was only upgraded to a Flagrant 1 one day later. And Green still was ejected late in the game when he earned two technical fouls. Golden State head coach Steve Kerr also earned a technical in the closing moments.
“I’m not going to go into the officiating,” Kerr told reporters. “I lose my mind sometimes. I’m really competitive. I’m not proud when I go overboard, and I probably went overboard. I just didn’t like the way the game unfolded in the second half. I’ll leave it at that.”
Curry was held to 13 points on 3-of-7 shooting from 3-point range Friday and added eight rebounds.
Curry took just one shot from the floor in the first quarter and finally made his first basket, a 3-pointer, with less than three minutes remaining in the first half.
Buddy Hield led Golden State with 18 points in a reserve role and has averaged 17.7 on the season, his first with the Warriors. Golden State finished off the victory with 67 points from its bench.
