Christmas for Warriors coach Mark Jackson turned sour pretty quickly Sunday, ending with a 105-86 season-opening loss to the visiting Los Angeles Clippers.
Jackson's debut as an NBA head coach, before a sell-out crowd and to a national TV audience, was tainted by a fourth-quarter collapse that suggested Warriors' basketball hasn't changed much. The man who has preached defense since being hired in June watched the Clippers, led by point guard Chris Paul, torch his team late, outscoring the Warriors 21-3 over a five-minute stretch.
The fourth quarter capped a forgettable second half for the Warriors defense. The Clippers shot 59 percent after half time.
"We gave up some easy baskets, some open looks that they knocked down," point guard Stephen Curry said. "Defensively, we didn't have our best performance in the second half."
Jackson wasn't so judicious with his words: "You have to get stops. Sixty four points in the second half just won't cut it."
In addition to its trademark shoddy defense, Golden State struggled offensively in the second half -- especially the fourth quarter, where they missed 11 of their 17 attempts and turned it over five times. The Warriors got morsels from their top three offensive players in crunch time.
Starting point guard Stephen Curry, recovering from a sprained right ankle, decided to play just before the game. By game's end, many Warriors fans probably wished he hadn't.
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