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Clippers make too many mistakes in playoff loss to Warriors

Clippers point guard Chris Paul casts a glance toward referees at the end of a 109-105 loss to the Golden State Warriors in Game 1 of their playoff series on Saturday afternoon at Staples Center.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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The Clippers can point to their 17 turnovers, two in the final 37.7 seconds of the game, as a reason they lost Game 1 to the Golden State Warriors on Saturday afternoon at Staples Center.

The Clippers can look at their poor free-throw shooting as another reason for their 109-105 loss to the Warriors in the first game of the Western Conference first-round playoff series.

The Clippers were 23 for 35 (65.7%) from the free-throw line, including two misses by Chris Paul with 11.9 seconds left and the Clippers trailing by three points.

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They can point to Blake Griffin playing only 19 minutes and 14 seconds before fouling out and to Paul playing with five fouls.

They can point to letting the Warriors make 40.7% (11 for 27) of their three-pointers. The Clippers had held teams to 33.2% shooting from three-point range during the regular season, best in the NBA.

There was so much for the Clippers to point at as reasons for trailing 1-0 in the best-of-seven playoff series.

“We made mistakes that sometimes you make, but I thought that some of us, myself included, maybe wanted it too much,” Griffin said. “We just need to relax and play basketball like we have and do the things we’ve worked on and that’s what’s going to make us successful.”

The Clippers will practice Sunday in an effort to try to clean up some of their mess before playing Game 2 on Monday night at Staples Center.

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