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Pacific showdown when Warriors visit Clippers

Oct 31, 2013 - 2:20 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Los Angeles Clippers hope to put Tuesday's season- opening loss to the Lakers behind them Thursday night when they host the Golden State Warriors.

The Clippers, a trendy NBA championship pick by some after Doc Rivers left the Boston Celtics to become the head coach, lost to their fellow Staples Center tenants 116-103 in what was technically a road game.

"The game just didn't look right to me throughout the game. I just didn't feel good about it. You could sense it," Rivers said on Wednesday. "I thought we came with the right intentions. We just didn't do them very well. I thought we broke down a lot. All of the things that we've worked on that we do in a drill and when the lights came on, we didn't do them."

Rivers preached defense as a way for the Clippers, last season's Pacific Division champs, to make a leap in the postseason. On Tuesday, the Lakers, without Kobe Bryant, scored 41 points in the fourth quarter, and shot 48 percent from behind the 3-point line.

Blake Griffin led the Clippers against the Lakers with 19 points, but shot 3- for-10 from the foul line. Chris Paul, who re-signed with the Clips in the offseason, had a double-double with 15 points and 11 assists.

DeAndre Jordan (17), Jamal Crawford (15) and J.J. Redick (13) all scored in double figures for L.A.

The Warriors clobbered those same Lakers in their season debut Wednesday night at Oracle Arena. Golden State routed the Lakers 125-94 thanks to an awesome performance from Klay Thompson.

The shooting guard was sensational with 38 points, including 27 at the half on 10-for-12 shooting. For the night, Thompson went 15-for-19 from the floor and 5-for-7 from the 3-point line.

"After like my third three; I just knew I was getting open looks," said Thompson. "I was locked in before the game, too. Actually, I knew in the pre-game, I was hitting everything."

David Lee, an All-Star last season, enjoyed a great game with 24 points, eight rebounds and five assists.

The Warriors were up 33 points to start the fourth quarter, so Thompson was the only Golden State player to go more than 30 minutes. Steph Curry only had 10 points and Toney Douglas notched 13 off the bench.

Andre Iguodala's Warriors debut was pedestrian with seven points, four rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block.

"It was a lot of fun. This is my 10th one, you kind of get tired of opening night and the theatrics, you're just ready to go play." said Iguodala. "I think it was done well and it kind of gave us a boost of energy coming out. So we've got to let that energy carry us throughout the first month of the season, keep it going and just stay focused."

The Warriors won three of the four meetings last season, but are 5-13 in the last 18 road matchups.