Five takeaways from the Clippers’ 114-98 loss to Golden State

The Clippers looked more like themselves Wednesday night at Oracle Arena. Unfortunately for them, so did the Golden State Warriors, who pulled away in the second half for a 114-98 victory. Here are five takeaways from the game:

1. Good usually isn’t good enough against the Warriors. The Clippers were clearly more focused and engaged than they had been over the weekend in consecutive losses to Memphis and New Orleans, but it didn’t matter. Chris Paul and J.J. Redick couldn’t make shots and the Clippers experienced a brief defensive lapse in the third quarter. That was more than enough for the Warriors to stretch their home winning streak to 51 games dating to last season.

2. Golden State’s backcourt was better than its counterpart. Much better. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson combined for 65 points, nearly triple the output of Paul and Redick (22). Paul and Redick combined to make only eight of 29 shots, a rarity for two of the Clippers’ best shooters. Meanwhile, Thompson was slipping behind the Clippers’ defense and Curry was making four of 10 three-pointers on the way to 33 points.

3. DeAndre Jordan was at his best. Clippers Coach Doc Rivers wasn’t exaggerating when he called his center “the most dominant player on the court overall.” Jordan had nine rebounds in the first quarter, showing he was out to atone for bad showings in his previous two games in which he failed to reach double figures in that category. He had his usual array of dunks and a couple of nice post moves. One thing that didn’t work: an airballed jumper above the free throw line near the end of the shot clock.

4. Golden State’s mastery of the Clippers continues. The Warriors have won six consecutive games in a series that once seemed to vacillate between the teams. It feels like ages ago that the Clippers beat the Warriors in the 2014 playoffs, probably because of Golden State’s dominance since then in winning the 2015 NBA title and challenging the Chicago Bulls’ NBA record of 72 victories this season. The Warriors (64-7) need to win nine of their final 11 regular-season games to get there, which seems reasonable given they are undefeated at home this season.

5. It’s another tough turnaround for the Clippers. They must face Portland at home on Thursday in another challenging back-to-back situation. The Clippers had won seven consecutive games on the back end of back to backs before stumbling in New Orleans on Sunday, but they have been beatable at home this season and must match the urgency of the Trail Blazers, who are fighting the Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets and Utah Jazz for the No. 6 seeding in the Western Conference.

Twitter: @latbbolch