The Warriors dismantled the Clippers 115-98 in their first meeting of the season on Wednesday night. As so often seems to be the case, Los Angeles took their frustrations out on the officials throughout the game, earning three technical fouls, including one from Chris Paul less than two minutes into the first quarter.
Former Warrior Marreese Speights voiced his displeasure with the behavior of his new team after the game, telling reporters that the Clippers need to stop their consistent complaining to the referrees, something the team has been known for in the Doc Rivers/Paul era.
“First we need to start really just leaving the refs alone,” Speights told the Orange County Register. “Guys just got to sacrifice, do some other things than scoring, do some other things than your personal goals. Just try something new.”
“They’ve been doing it here for four or five years and it hasn’t been working, so it’s time to try something new.”
Speights was signed by the Clippers this offseason after spending the previous three years as a key bench contributor for Golden State. Speights said he has been using his experience with the Warriors to try and explain how the Clippers can counter what Golden State is trying to do, something they unequivocally failed at last night.
“Tonight,” Speights said, “they see it, they see everything I say. Everything I say in practice since I’ve been here, they see it. That’s how they (the Warriors) play.”
“It’s the same thing,” he said. “(They) move the ball really well, they get everybody involved, they play good team defense. And they capitalize off our mistakes. We turned the ball over a lot in the first quarter and they capitalized.”
Speights then questioned his new team’s resolve.
“That’s the scouting report when you play against the Clippers,” he said. “It’s always been, especially with the Warriors, you play against the Clippers, you hit them a couple of times and their spirit is going to be down. That’s what happened, so we’ve just got to find a way to get over that hump.”
“Can’t keep thinking about this game,” Speights said. “It’s over with. They beat us. Been losing a lot lately.”
After starting out 10-1, the Clippers have lost five of their last seven.
