The wake-up call was received perhaps a game or two too late, but it was received nonetheless: The Warriors needed to get this first-round annoyance out of the way in order to focus on a much-tougher matchup with the Houston Rockets.
The Warriors were able to put away the Clippers by employing several adjustments they probably should’ve made much earlier in the series. Defensively, the Warriors reverted back to their swarming defense, putting the clamps on an offense that wreaked havoc on them in Game 5, where the Clippers were able to stamp an offensive rating of 131.