Clippers rally late but it’s just window dressing as Golden State finally slams door on its 115-112 win

It looked like a low-pressure gig when C.J. Wilcox checked into the game with nearly five minutes left.

All the seldom-used Clippers guard needed to do was hustle, play some defense and try not to get embarrassed at the end of a blowout loss to the Golden State Warriors.

Then the job description changed Saturday night at Staples Center. Improbably so.

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Wilcox found the ball in his hands with the Clippers somehow down by only three points in the final seconds. He had already hit two of the four three-pointers Clippers reserves made in a 94-second stretch to wipe out most of what had been a 16-point deficit with less than two minutes to play.

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Clippers guard Chris Paul runs into Warriors guard Stephen Curry on a breakaway during the first half of a game at Staples Center on Feb. 20.

  (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Clippers guard Chris Paul (3) dribbles around Warriors forward Andre Iguodala (9) during the first half of a game Feb. 20 at Staples Center.

  (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Clippers guard Chris Paul waits for a rebound to fall as Warriors center Marreese Speights (5) and forward Brandon Rush (4) try to grab the loose ball during a game on Feb. 20.

  (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Clippers guard Pablo Prigioni passes the ball away under the basket while being defended by Warriors forward Brandon Rush (4) during the first half of a game on Feb. 20.

  (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Clippers forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, left, and Clippers guard Pablo Prigioni congratulate guard Jamal Crawford (11) after a three-point basket against the Warriors on Feb. 20.

  (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Clippers Coach Doc Rivers reacts after J.J. Redick is called for a technical foul during the first half of a game against the Warriors at Staples Center on Feb. 20.

  (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Clippers forward Jeff Green (8) tries to intercept a pass between Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) and forward Harrison Barnes (40) during the first half of a game on Feb. 20.

  (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Clippers guard Jamal Crawford (11) leaps to make a pass away from Warriors forward Andre Iguodala (9) during the fourth quarter of a game on Feb. 20.

  (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Warriors guard Stephen Curry is defended by Clippers guard Chris Paul during the first half of a game on Feb. 20.

  (Danny Moloshok / Associated Press)

The ending was not the stuff of dreams. Wilcox rushed his shot, double-pumping a heave from 25 feet. The ball fell short of the rim and the Warriors prevailed, 115-112, in a game that somehow nearly unraveled completely for the defending NBA champions.

“I jumped in the air,” Wilcox said, “was going to make a pass but couldn’t make the pass so I tried to throw something up.”

Clippers Coach Doc Rivers quickly pointed out afterward that failed execution by his third-stringers was not the reason his team lost. The Clippers could not match Golden State’s cutting, ball movement or shot-making in falling to 0-3 against the Warriors this season.

“They played way better throughout the game,” Rivers said. “They trusted so much more offensively. . . . I thought it was a horrible offensive night that created a horrible defensive night. I thought we were impatient, I thought we stood around far more than usual. I can’t wait to see the isos we had over and over again. That’s just not the way I like to play and I don’t think that’s a very effective way for our team to play.”

Klay Thompson scored 32 points and Stephen Curry had 23 for the Warriors, who avoided their first back-to-back losses of the season after sustaining a 32-point drubbing in Portland on Friday night.

Jamal Crawford scored 25 points off the bench for the Clippers, including a four-point play and an implausible scoop shot inside the free-throw line on which he was fouled. But almost every Clippers run was offset by a turnover that led to an easy basket for the Warriors.

The Clippers played with a bit too much emotion at times, with J.J. Redick and Chris Paul picking up technical fouls in the second quarter to add to the team’s league-leading tally.

“We wanted to win the game, in my opinion, so badly that we could not win the game,” Rivers said. “We were in the way of ourselves a lot.”

The Clippers were already down by 11 points when Jeff Green made his debut with the team midway through the first quarter. He didn’t make a great first impression, getting beaten on defense a few times, committing three turnovers and finishing with five points on two-for-seven shooting.

The Clippers didn’t seem ready to concede anything even though it would be easy for the tenor of the rivalry to go from respect to resignation. Asked if the Warriors were the better team, Clippers center DeAndre Jordan, who finished with 21 rebounds and 16 points, looked around the interview room for 10 seconds without answering before taking another question.

Wilcox had checked in for Paul with 4:57 left after Paul sustained a mild left thigh bruise that is not expected to force him to miss any games. The Clippers were down by 16 points but started to force turnovers and make three-pointers.

They were down by only three with 4.6 seconds left when Golden State’s Andre Iguodala forced an inbounds pass that deflected into Wilcox’s hands. Rivers had decided to leave the outcome in the hands of his reserves after they had forged the comeback.

“I was shocked,” Wilcox said. “But it was very cool for him to do that. I love playing in games like that. It’s tough when you’re out of rhythm and you just get thrown in, but that’s the business and you have to stay ready.”

Follow Ben Bolch on Twitter @latbbolch