KLAY THOMPSON scored 32 points, fellow Splash Brother Stephen Curry added 23 and the Golden State Warriors shot 51 percent in beating the Los Angeles Clippers 115-112 Saturday night to avoid losing back-to-back games for the first time this season.

    “I was just proud of the way we responded from the jump, especially after letting (Portland’s) best player go for 50 last night,” Thompson said. “We had to give some back. We were out to prove a point that last night was a fluke.”

    The Warriors were coming off a 32-point drubbing at Portland a night earlier that snapped their 11-game winning streak. They appeared highly motivated to erase that memory from the opening tip, shooting 56 percent in the first half and twice leading by 15 points in the second quarter.

    “We can have a letdown night like last night, but we come back and refocus, and turn it on and find a way to get a win against a great team that’s been playing well the last 20 or so games,” Curry said. “With the short turnaround, we didn’t want to have any excuses coming into tonight, and we got it done.”

    Draymond Green had his NBA-leading 11th triple-double with 18 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists to help the defending champions improve to 49-5.

    Jamal Crawford scored 25 points off the bench, Chris Paul added 24 and DeAndre Jordan had 16 points and 21 rebounds for the Clippers. They fell to 19-6 without injured Blake Griffin. Their two earlier losses to the Warriors were by a combined 11 points with Griffin in the lineup.

    “They’re sort of becoming like San Antonio, they’re not going to beat themselves,” said Paul, whose thigh bruise got him pulled with 8:09 remaining. “We had a few bad stretches. We know we have to be better and we will be.”

    The Clippers were coming off a 19-point win over San Antonio on Thursday night. Even with a day of rest, they played behind nearly the entire game.

    “Tonight was a good response to a great challenge because the Clippers have been playing really well and they’re a great team,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “On the road, after a long flight, that’s a great win.”

    Pablo Prigioni’s 3-pointer off Wesley Johnson’s steal left the Clippers trailing 115-112 with five seconds to go, long after both teams’ best players had gone to the bench.

    (SD-Agencies)