LOS ANGELES – Blake Griffin doesn’t do it with the frequency of his hyperbolic, rim-hurdling youth, but he occasionally adds victims to his disrespectful dunk mixtapes. Draymond Green joined the list Wednesday night at Staples Center, where he stood under the basket, waiting to rebound a DeAndre Jordan miss. Griffin came flying over Green’s back, grabbed Green by the face and neck and pulled him away with his left hand, then jackhammered the ball with his right hand.

The slam was so filthy that the Los Angeles Clippers’ easily excitable owner, Steve Ballmer, shot up from his seat and shouted a few words in Green’s direction as Griffin jogged back down the court. But if not for that one vintage highlight-reel moment, Griffin was truant in a game that could’ve gone a long way toward elevating the Clippers into a legitimate threat to the Golden State Warriors this season. Instead, Griffin probably wishes he could use the same mitt that clobbered Green to cover the faces of those who winced through his forgettable performance – replete with uncharacteristic turnovers, errant jumpers and astonishingly abysmal defense – in a 115-98 loss that only extended his team’s status as a faux contender until proven otherwise.

“At the end of the day, to win a championship, you’re going to have to go through them,” Griffin said of the Warriors.

The Clippers remain the last team from the Western Conference to defeat the Warriors in a playoff series, but that was back in 2014, before Steve Kerr arrived and turned a once-floundering franchise into a perennial title contender, before Curry became a two-time and first-ever unanimous MVP, and before former MVP Kevin Durant decided to eliminate what had been Golden State’s one true threat in the conference – Oklahoma City – by joining forces with a juggernaut.

Blake Griffin shot 5-of-20 on Wednesday and had seven turnovers. (AP) More

The urge is not to overreact and place too much emphasis on one regular-season game in December. The Cleveland Cavaliers proved last season that an embarrassing home loss to the Warriors doesn’t mean that all hope is lost for the postseason. Last January, the Warriors drubbed the Cavaliers by 43 points – with Steph Curry producing a soul-crushing steal against LeBron James, and Cavs coach David Blatt getting canned a few days later – but Cleveland won the championship, ending a five-decade title drought for the city, at Oracle Arena in June.

But then again, this is a Clippers team that has now lost seven consecutive games to a Warriors team that still hasn’t fully figured out how good it can be with Durant. Continuity is supposed to be the primary advantage that the Clippers have over the Warriors. But the Clippers appear to be running on a treadmill instead of heading to an actual destination. They have made superficial changes to the roster but nothing substantial, relying on the same core players to suddenly show sides of themselves that they haven’t previously revealed. Every year, the Clippers show up with more to prove, without ever actually improving. They rule the regular season and break down in the postseason, either physically or emotionally, expecting more despite putting out more of the same.

“We’ve got to figure it out,” Chris Paul said, “and I’m very optimistic that we will.”

Clippers coach Doc Rivers refers to his team as “emotional,” and he and his players remain distracted by disputes with referees. They collected two more technical fouls – from Griffin and Paul – Wednesday night. And they can also let those emotions drag them down when things don’t go their way. Rivers and his players repeatedly mentioned how their “spirits” were deflated after a poor first period.

“That’s the scouting report when you play against the Clippers. It’s always been. You play the Clippers, you hit them a couple of times, and their spirit is going to be down,” said Clippers reserve Marreese Speights, who spent the previous three seasons with Golden State. “We’ve got to find a way to get over that hump and do something different. … We need to leave the refs alone. Guys got to sacrifice. Do other things than scoring. Do other things than your personal goals. Try something new. They’ve been doing it for four or five years, and it hasn’t been working. It’s time to try something new.”

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