The Los Angeles Clippers vs. Golden State Warriors figures to be among the most entertaining early-round series in the 2014 NBA Playoffs. Clips forward Blake Griffin tends to evoke strong, negative opinions from opponents and inspire chippy play. That should continue this postseason judging from Warriors guard Klay Thompson's recent verbal jabs.
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"He is a good guy off the court but he probably just ... I mean ... plays pretty physical and flops a little bit," Thompson told The Wheelhouse on 95.7 The Game radio station.
"He flairs his arm around so you know you might catch a random elbow or something that doesn't you know rub off too well on guys," Thompson said. "He's kind of like a bull in a china shop, kind of out of control sometimes. And then you do just see him flop sometimes like how can a guy that big and strong flop that much. I can see how that gets under people's skin and be frustrating to play against."
That's no small deal for the Clips--Griffin ranked fifth in the NBA in free throw attempts this year, and is now converting his foul shots at a 71 percent clip. He attempted 8.4 per game in 2013-14, up from just over five a season ago.
There's no love lost between Blake and the Warriors. He got into it with Warriors coach Mark Jackson, and also got tossed from a Christmas day game after an altercation with Andrew Bogut.
"If you look at it, I didn't do anything, and I got thrown out of the game," Griffin said after the loss before saying they couldn't handle him, so they got him ejected instead.
"It all boils down to they (the referees) fell for it. To me, that's cowardly. That's cowardly basketball... Instead of just playing straight up and playing a game, it got into something more than that, and it's unfortunate because you want to play a team head-to-head. You don't want to start playing other games and playing cowardly basketball."
Make your pick! Clippers or Warriors in Round 1 @SportsWN
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