Friday night the Warriors dressed up as a lottery team for exactly one quarter, then took the costume off and beat the Lakers
by 17. They were down 38-15 after twelve minutes, watched the deficit swell to 25, tied it at 53 by halftime, and outscored LA 59-42 the rest of the way. According to the league, no team in the shot-clock era had ever trailed by 23-plus after one and tied it by the break. So the Halloween party at Chase started a day early.
Now the Clippers come to town at 1-4, losers of four straight, fresh off a 127-101 beating in Minnesota
where the Wolves closed on a 23-2 run, without Anthony Edwards. This is a different Clippers team than the one you've been booing for a decade. Kawhi is gone, and the keys now belong to Darius Garland, Brandon Ingram and No. 5 pick Keaton Wagler.
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Los Angeles Clippers at Golden State Warriors
When:November 1st, 2026 | 5:30 PM PT
Where:Chase Center
TV:NBC Sports Bay Area
Radio:95.7 The Game
There's also some history here that Clipper fans would rather not discuss. Last April, Steph came back from a knee issue and dragged the Warriors past the Clippers 126-121 in the play-in
. That loss ended the season and, as it turned out, the whole Kawhi era. So technically the Clippers' rebuild was built in Golden State's backyard. Sunday is Día de los Muertos, which feels right for a franchise that's still figuring out what came back to life and what stayed buried.
Wagler is the guy to watch on their side. He's scored in double figures every night, and he gets to the line like he has a coupon, going 7-for-8 in Minnesota even while shooting 2-for-11 from the field. Brook Lopez gave them 13 off the bench, and Rui Hachimura is back from a quad issue. They're also missing big man Yanic Konan Niederhauser, who's out after Lisfranc surgery. That leaves a frontcourt that Golden State's small-ball lineups should be able to run off the floor if the effort is there.
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On the Warriors' side, everybody's watching the rookie. Yaxel Lendeborg spent the week in the national headlines for calling Luka a whiner after opening night, then had the kind of rematch you only have in a nightmare: six points, six fouls
, five turnovers.
The bench is the other storyline worth your attention. Golden State's reserves went for 50 against the Lakers bench's seven, with De'Anthony Melton scoring 16, Georges Niang finishing plus-21, and Will Richard going plus-20 mostly on defense and pure nuisance. If that second unit is real, this team has a ceiling nobody gave them credit for in October.
Unfortunately the Dubs will be without Draymond and Steph; Steph is balling out of control this season.
The Warriors started 0-3, and Dub Nation was already measuring the Steph era for a coffin. Three wins later they're back at .500, and a rookie has given everybody something to argue about besides the end of the dynasty. The Clippers are coming to Chase looking for a fresh start, and Golden State has a chance to remind them who ended the last one.
