Warriors sweep Clippers for first time since 1985-86

Andrew Bogut returned from a two-game absence because of an injured left toe/foot, and almost immediately the Warriors regained the appearance of a team chasing the NBA’s best-ever regular season in a 114-98 victory over the Clippers on Wednesday night.

Bogut hobbled after being kicked in the left shin, but he had four points, 10 rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots.

The Warriors outscored the Clippers by 18 points during Bogut’s gutsy 20 minutes and limited the league’s sixth-best scoring team to 6.6 points less than its season average.

In front of a national TV audience and a sellout crowd at Oracle Arena, the Warriors (64-7) won their 51st straight regular-season home game and broke a franchise record by getting to 57 games over .500.

The Warriors remained four games ahead of San Antonio atop the Western Conference standings and remained a game ahead of the pace set by 1995-96 Chicago Bulls, who won a season-record 72 games.

The Warriors, who play eight of their final 11 games at home, need to go at least 9-2 to break the record.

The Clippers (43-27) are going the opposite way, having lost five of their past six games and having even less success against the Warriors, who could be their second-round playoff matchup.

The Warriors have won six in a row against the Clippers, including sweeping the teams’ season series for the first time since winning all six games in the 1986-87 season.

Stephen Curry (33) and Klay Thompson (32) combined for 65 points, with Curry going 4-for-10 from three-point range after hitting 3 of 21 from distance in his past two games.

On the offensive end, I just try to take guys out and screen them to get Steph and Klay open.

The Clippers trailed by three points or fewer for most of the half’s final five minutes, and Paul Pierce’s three-pointer with 14.9 seconds remaining sent the Clippers into the locker room down only 51-49.