OAKLAND -- The Warriors-Clippers rivalry, dead for a couple years, was buried 50 points deep Thursday night.
There were, and may always be, occasional fits of temper in which both players and officials will be tested. That surely was the case during the Warriors' 123-113 victory over LA at Oracle Arena.
But scoring 50 points in 12 minutes, as the Warriors did in the third quarter, is a rather emphatic statement that serves as its own embellishment. It sent the Clippers back home, unable to muster even a half-hearted comeback.
"That was incredible," Kevin Durant said of third-quarter scoring frenzy.
"That's a lot of points," Klay Thompson said. "It's that the most we've had all season?"
Well, yes, it is. The Warriors' previous high for points in a quarter was 45, also against the Clippers, on Jan. 28.
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So this was astonishing even to the Warriors, the highest-scoring team in the NBA for three seasons running. This is the Warriors' fourth 50-point quarter in franchise history and their first since March 1989. They made nine 3-pointers, tying a franchise record for triples in a quarter.
Fifties are rare, period; the last one by any team in the NBA was on March 25, 2014, when the Lakers dropped 51 in a quarter against the Knicks.
"I had no idea we scored that much," said Stephen Curry, who scored 20 in the quarter -- 17 in the final 3:37 before halftime. "Obviously, coming back from 12 down to having a double-digit lead, it all started with the defensive end and finding transition."
The scoring breakdown: Curry scored 20, Durant 15, Thompson 5, Andre Iguodala and Zaza Pachulia 4 each and JaVale McGee 2. The Warriors shot 73.9 percent (17-of-23) in the quarter.
"It all started from our defense, getting rebounds and getting out in transition," Durant said.
The Warriors forced five LA turnovers in the quarter, off which they scored 11 points. Trailing by 12 at the half, they led by 12 entering the fourth quarter.
The Warriors have defeated the Clippers 10 consecutive times overall. They've beaten them 11 straight times at Oracle Arena. The average margin of victory in four games this season is 21.5 points.
This was a matter of how the Warriors responded to the threat posed by LA in the first half.
"I'm not sure what needed to happen," Draymond Green said. "But I know we took that quarter over. And it was pretty spectacular."
