The Golden State Warriors beat the Los Angeles Clippers 115-91 at the Chase Center in San Francisco, California, on Thursday, extending their winning streak to four games.

The Warriors trailed by as many as 12 points (59-47) in the game, but they came back with a 42-16 run in the third quarter. Jordan Poole scored 22 of his 34 points in this period alone while contributing two assists and two steals. The team delivered nine of the 25 assists in this quarter.

A series of reasons sat behind the Warriors' explosion in the third period but the core factor was speeding up. Without Stephen Curry or Andrew Wiggins, the team is unable to change the Clippers' defense with individual attack threat during half-court offense. Neither do the Warriors have enough defensive resources to contain Kawhi Leonard if he turns every possession into a slow, solid isolation play.

Poole's scoring production aside, the performances of Draymond Green and Donte DiVincenzo on both ends of the game are integral to the Warriors' comeback in the third quarter. DiVincenzo guarded multiple players including Leonard, Paul George, Eric Gordon and Norman Powell who vary in size, power and athleticism, yet letting no one through the perimeter defensive line easily.

Green's job was a little more complicated. His defensive target in the starting lineup was Russell Westbrook, whom Green didn't even look at when he had the ball at the 3-point line. Instead, Green invested most of his attention in scanning the floor and always preparing to help other teammates either via double-teaming or recovery. If they managed to stop the Clippers' attack, Green was often driving forward or throwing a long pass for early offense.

The Warriors shot 14-for-46 from downtown in general on Thursday night. It was not even close to high efficiency, but they made seven of their 14 triple attempts in the third quarter. Moreover, they also led in fast break points 19-4. During the third period, the team had five steals and forced seven turnovers by the Clippers.

The Clippers suffered their fourth straight loss since Westbrook arrived and started. Having played some 27 minutes on the court, he had eight points, six assists and four turnovers after missing nine of his 12 FGs, including five behind the arc. Fairly speaking, it is his worst performance since he joined the team.

Nonetheless, it is unfair to blame Westbrook alone for Thursday's loss. At least, when he was on the court, Westbrook gave the ball to the right hands of Leonard, who made six of his seven attempts in the first half to get 15 points; at least when Westbrook was on the court, the Clippers could implement some designed plays like dishing out to open shooters.

By contrast, after Westbrook went to sit on the bench in the third quarter, the Clippers' offense grew too simple to include anything but having the ball-handler pull up to shoot 3-pointers. Not only did they do a poor job at the triple line (9-for-43), they threw themselves into the Warriors' preferred rhythm, which explained why the separation grew so quickly after the Clippers blew their lead.

Other games on Thursday (away teams come first):

Toronto Raptors 108-119 Washington Wizards

Kyle Kuzma dropped court-high 30 points in addition to five rebounds and five assists for the Wizards at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, not only leading the team to their second consecutive win, but also matching the Raptors in games behind (15) the Eastern Conference leaders Milwaukee Bucks.

The competition seemed long gone for the Raptors when they trailed 99-80 at 9:24 in the fourth quarter. Though they cut the deficit to single digit (103-94) with a series of fast break in four minutes, the team's 3-point shooting performance of 2-for-7 was not good enough for them to come back.

Philadelphia 76ers 126-133 Dallas Mavericks

For the first time in their franchise history, the Mavericks witnessed two of their players both score 40 or more points in one game. On Thursday night at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, Luka Doncic went 13-for-22 from the field to get 42 points and 12 assists while Kyrie Irving made 15 of his 22 attempts to contribute 40 points.

The 76ers added Tyrese Maxey to the starting lineup to improve their firepower. Maxey didn't let the team down as he joined Joel Embiid and James Harden, combing to drop 91 points, 14 rebounds and 16 assists. The 76ers had 60 points in the paint, 40 of which came from Embiid and Maxey.

However, in today's NBA, shooting 30-for-42 by the 76ers in the paint is still no match for going 25-for-48 at the 3-point line by the Mavericks.

Indiana Pacers 99-110 San Antonio Spurs

The Spurs secured their second win in a row at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas, on Thursday, after the 16-game losing streak. Rookie forward Jeremy Sochan scored a double-double of 22 points and 13 rebounds while contributing three assists and two steals. Devin Vassell came back from a 25-game absence and got 18 points off the bench.

The Pacers missed their All-Star orchestrator Tyrese Haliburton in Thursday's game. His absence hurt the Pacers in playmaking as the team delivered only 23 assists while committing 14 turnovers. Buddy Hield carried the biggest offensive load with 27 points and four assists, but there was still so much he could do.