San Francisco – The Warriors were coming off a great win yesterday against the Utah Jazz. But tonight they had little in the tank to stop the Los Angeles Lakers. Despite a limited roster the Lakers dominated much of theme for a 120-110 victory over Golden State.
“They got 68 points in the paint, that’s unheard of,” said head coach Steve Kerr. “They got anything they wanted, they shot 63%. Very disappointing especially coming off yesterday’s win against a great Utah team, where I though our defense was engaged and active all game.”
By the third quarter Los Angeles pushed their lead to 20 points and never looked back. The short-handed Lakers were without Alex Caruso who suffered a concussion against the Indiana Pacers.
Marc Gasol continues to be day-to-day with health and safety protocols and Anthony Davis is still out with an achilles injury. LeBron James had a quiet night and finished with 22 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds while Stephen Curry had 27 points.
The Warriors got off to a good start in the first, they stayed close in the game and James Wiseman did a good job matching up with the Los Angeles bigs. Curry highlighted the first with a few left-handed layups and led all scores with 15 points. Despite Kevon Looney missing a few shots in the paint, Golden State ended the period down by three points.
“We lost our connection early,” Kerr said. “We started out OK but kind of a late first and throughout the second when they scored 36 points we just lost our defensive focus.”
But by the second quarter, the second unit struggled while James was still on the floor. James had six assists while Montrezl Harrell led with 19 points and was the key to the Lakers offense. Nico Mannion went 2-for-3 from the arc while Wiseman added 6 points but got two fouls, including a technical in the process.
Los Angeles increased their lead to 15 points in the second and went on a 13-2 run under 1:35 left in the half. The Warriors went 7-18 from the 3-point line and Curry led all scores with 20 points to end the half. Curry opened the third with a 3 but the Lakers continued to dominate by extending their lead by as much as 20 points.
Collectively Los Angeles dominated from the three-point line. James recorded his fourth triple double of the season. Harrell finished with 27 points and Kyle Kuzma added 17 points. Andrew Wiggins added 15 and despite the loss Curry passed Guy Rogers as the Warriors all-time assist leader.
“It’s special, it’s kind of a longevity award,” said Curry. “But in terms of playing for the same franchise for now 12 years and hopefully a lot longer. Anytime you’ve done something at the top of the list of a franchise it’s pretty special. I can take a second and appreciate that for sure.”
The Warriors head on the road to face the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night.
