Ekpe Udoh Shines As The Golden State Warriors Defeat The Los Angeles Clippers
The Golden State Warriors on Monday night were forced to play without the services of starting center Andris Biedrins because of the flu. Facing off against the tough Los Angeles Clippers and starting in Biedrins place for the Warriors was Ekpe Udoh and he showed he was up for the challenge of facing the duo of Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan.
Udoh started out on fire hitting his first five shots and outscoring Griffin in the first quarter 10-8 and he scored in a variety of ways. He used a pump fake on Jordan to get him in the air and then went up for an easy score; he received a nice pass from Stephen Curry for a dunk and showcased a nice jump hook.
Even more impressive was that he only picked up one foul, though the result of the play had Chris Paul shooting three free throws. With Udoh not being used to playing heavy minutes he did receive his first breather with just over a minute remaining in the first quarter.
After the substitution of Udoh, Monta Ellis got rolling and finished off the final minute of the first by scoring six of his nine points and in the second quarter matched that number. David Lee got himself rolling in the second quarter as well and finished with nine points and Udoh managed four points.
Paul kept the Clippers in the game offensively as he was on fire and did not miss a shot from the field until just before half time when the Warriors were attempting to foul, so Paul decided to attempt to shoot from around 40 feet out from the basket and finished the half with 20 points including 3-4 from beyond the arc.
Changes were made defensively by the Clippers as their defense was much more aggressive and physical with the Warriors. Yet, Ellis was able to score 10 in the third period; Lee added six points and Udoh three. In the fourth the Warriors were able to get some help from the bench as Nate Robinson led the fourth quarter scoring with seven points and Brandon Rush added five points of his own.
The Warriors also made an adjustment of their own on defense with Ellis defending Paul and after scoring 20 points in the first half he only managed four points and Ellis along with Dominic McGuire shut Paul out in the fourth quarter. With the Warriors playing tough on Paul it did allow Mo Williams who scored 22 points and went 6-8 from three. Yet, the Warriors prevailed with a 104-97 victory over the Clippers.
Ellis led the way for the Warriors with 32 points, five rebound and four assists, Lee added 24 points, 13 rebounds and Udoh finished with 19 points and eight rebounds.
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