The Golden State Warriors defeated the Los Angeles Clippers last night at the Staples Center and although it was only a pre-season game, the atmosphere was intense. Both teams do not like each other and that was evident as the game progressed. Both teams wanted to win, but surprisingly they kept their emotions in check in a tightly contested match-up.
While the Warriors were happy they got the win, Andrew Bogut was celebrating another victory. We caught up with him after the game and he mentioned that his main goal was to not receive a technical foul and get fined, which he was able to accomplish against the rival Clippers:
We know this is a team that we don’t like and vice versa. Even though it’s pre-season, there is still some physicality, there some extra elbows under the basket and some physicality with different guys and some trash talking, so it’s kind of what the fans come to see. It’s a great value ticket for a pre-season game. Thankfully, I didn’t get any “T’s”, so I didn’t get fined at all and that’s probably my main goal for the pre-season game against the Clippers.
Bogut played well through out the game, he finished with 10 points and seven rebounds. The big man looked good running the floor and had some nice touch around the basket. However, Bogut’s main goal last night was to not get a technical foul and in a physical game against DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin, that is not an easy task. Basketball is a physical sport and Bogut is one of the few remaining big men that have an intimidating presence in the middle.
With all the trash talking and elbows being thrown, it is actually surprising Bogut was able to keep it together. It is no secret he is an emotional player and plays the enforcer role on this team, but has done a decent job of not giving the opposition a free throw. Last year, Bogut received seven technical fouls, which was tied for 35th in the NBA. Blake Griffin, Kevin Durant, and DeMarcus Cousins led the league with 16 technical fouls each.