OAKLAND, Calif. -- Former Golden State Warrior Derek Smith came back to haunt his former club in the form of a Los Angeles Clipper.
Smith scored 19 points Tuesday night in the Clippers' 116-104 victory over the Warriors at the Oakland Coliseum, and he said afterwards that Golden State misused him.
'I was out of position at Golden State,' he said. 'They had me at power forward, and I couldn't cover or rebound with the big people. I didn't have a chance to play guard, and that's where I am now and happy about it.'
The score was tied at 73 in the third quarter when the Clippers ran off 15 unanswered points.
'I really wasn't aware we had made that run, but, since we've started running more on our attack, we're capable of those streaks,' said Norm Nixon, who led Los Angeles with 22 points.
'I'm an old veteran and what was happening before was that I was having to handle the ball. Now I'm letting other guys handle the ball, and I'm getting more points because of it.'
Golden State Coach John Bach felt the Clippers outplayed is team in about every department.
'They hurt us with penetration, they hurt us on the break and they hurt us on the post.
'I never felt comfortable about this game, but at 73-all in the third quarter I felt we had a chance, but then quicksilver slipped through our hands.'
The Clippers committed 24 turnovers but, Bach said, 'we did very little with them.'
Purvis Short paced the Warriors with 37 points.
