LOS ANGELES -#8212; Stephen Curry threw his mouthpiece in frustration and was whistled for a rare technical foul.
The Golden State Warriors never grabbed a lead in the game. They never threatened to win once again at Staples Center. They didn't even appear to stand a chance, falling meekly in a 138-98 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday that evened up the best-of-seven Western Conference playoff series.
One of the few displays of fire in the rout came when Curry in the third quarter scored on a layup over Blake Griffin and didn't get a foul call despite the contact, prompting the tossing of his mouthpiece and some gesturing toward a referee.
With the first-round series headed to Oracle Arena for Game 3 on Thursday, the Warriors in order to consistently compete with the No. 3-seeded Clippers must find a way to contain Griffin, who scored 35 points.
Foul trouble did the trick in Saturday's 109-105 win in Game 1, but Griffin came back with a vengeance and scored a playoff career high in points in three quarters while having a fairly easy time getting to the rim. He was 13 for 17 from the field and hit 9 of 10 free throws.
The No. 6-seeded Warriors had few answers, as Chris Paul had 12 points and 10 assists for the Clippers and DeAndre Jordan had 11 points and nine rebounds.
Curry led the Warriors with 24 points before taking a seat himself as the rout was on, but he hadn't scored his first points until 2:45 left in the first half.
For the game, the Warriors committed 25 turnovers after losing 23 of them in Game 1. They were only 4 for 19 from 3-point range, with Curry going 1 for 7 from beyond the arc. The Clippers shot 56.6 percent from the field.
The Warriors headed into the fourth quarter down 105-73 and went into the locker room down by 26 for the largest halftime playoff deficit in Golden State history.
Curry was limited to four points in the half on 1-for-6 shooting, including misfiring on each of his four 3-point attempts. While Curry made free throws to cut the lead to 26 points, some Clippers fans at Staples Center chanted "overrated" at the Warriors star
Griffin, on the other hand, poured in 21 points by halftime after being limited to 16 points in 19 minutes in Game 1. His play helped Draymond Green get up to five fouls as he bullied his way to the rim.
The Clippers dominated the second quarter, hitting their first five shots after Jamal Crawford had ended the first quarter with a steal and layup at the buzzer. Bench players Danny Granger, Hedo Turkoglu, Darren Collison and Crawford combined to score the first 19 points of the quarter, as the Warriors could do little to stop the barrage.
Granger finished with 15 points, and Collison added 10 assists, padding stats after starters on both sides had long left the game.
Draymond Green, David Lee and Jordan Crawford scored 11 apiece for the Warriors.
After the outcome had been decided, the two teams that say they don't like each other had such confrontations including double technical fouls on Golden State's Marreese Speights and the Clippers' Glen Davis.
Jordan Crawford committed a last-minute flagrant foul.
By halftime, the Warriors had committed a whopping 15 turnovers.
The Warriors once again got off to a slow start, trailing 15-4 before they were able to settle down in a quarter dominated by Griffin.
Griffin came out firing with 14 in the first quarter. He skied for a dunk and also made three trips to the free throw line as the Warriors struggled to contain him.
Meanwhile, Lee twice saw his shot blocked by Jordan and Jermaine O'Neal missed easy shots before both made their way to the bench.
Klay Thompson kept the Warriors afloat with seven points in the quarter, which ended up his total for the night. He committed three fouls in the game's first eight minutes and was forced to sit.
UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy: