Chris Paul says Warriors acted like ‘they won the NBA Finals’ last time they beat Clippers in L.A.

The Warriors have been a nice surprise in the West this season, and with All-Star caliber performances from both Stephen Curry and David Lee for the bulk of the season, they were able to beat an equally surprising Clippers team in each of their first two meetings.

The third meeting, however, was all Clippers. A night after winning the battle of Los Angeles handily over the Lakers, the second game of a back-to-back was no issue at all, and the Clippers blew out the Warriors 115-89.

It was 35-12 after the first quarter, and the Clips led by as many as 39 points.

Chris Paul said afterward that the way the Warriors celebrated the last time these teams played in Los Angeles, when Golden State won by four back on Nov. 3, may have had something to do with his team’s motivation.

“The first time they beat us here, you would have thought they won the NBA Finals,” Paul [said]. “Then they beat us up there pretty handily, so we wanted to protect our home court. This was the third time we’ve played those guys at the end of a back-to-back, so we knew if we let them get out and run, we’d be in for a long night.”

The Warriors similarly blew out the Clippers in Oakland three days before, so that was probably fresher in the minds of the Clippers than was any so-called excessive celebration in the third game of the regular season.

Speaking of celebrating, Warriors head coach Mark Jackson was less than thrilled in the third quarter of this one, when the Clippers were pouring it on and whooping it up on the bench while doing so. He had a little staredown with some of the Clippers players, and said afterward that he’d be remembering the way they acted on this night, as well.

“It was just a good old-fashioned heavyweight championship staredown. That’s all,” Jackson said. “But they earned the right to celebrate, the way they played. So what you’ve got to do as a coach or as a player is just let it soak in and remember it. That’s all. Mark it down with permanent ink.”

These are two of the younger and more athletic teams in the West, and they both seem to be coming into their own right at the same time. They meet for the final time in the regular season on Jan. 21 in Oakland, a date that fans should certainly be circling on their collective calendars.