So this is weird.
The Lakers really got it going in the third quarter and never looked back. Yes, the Lakers won in a blowout against the Golden State Warriors, 124-111. They led by as many as 28 points.
It wasn’t that long ago when the Lakers had barely any margin for error. But this Lakers team has some actual depth. The proof is this game. Yes, the Warriors didn’t have Stephen Curry, Andrew Wiggins, and Gary Payton II. But the Lakers seemed to roll along even when LeBron James and Anthony Davis didn’t have great offensive games.
There were only a couple of times where the Warriors seemed to threaten a bit. Near the end of the first half, Jordan Poole got going and made back-to-back threes. It cut the deficit to three before the halftime intermission. And then there was Kevon Looney, who got all the offensive boards in the third quarter. He almost singlehandedly brought the Warriors within single digits.
But the Lakers scored 9 straight after the Warriors cut the lead to 7. Golden State struggled to make shots. And with a huge lead early in the fourth and another game to play, the Warriors waved the white flag early.
This was a rare occurrence for the Lakers. Outside of leaving early because of injury, these are the fewest minutes Anthony Davis (25 minutes) has played all season. And that goes the same for LeBron James (26 minutes).
As mentioned, LeBron (13 points off 5 for 20 shooting!) and Davis (12 points and only 5 attempts from the field!) didn’t have strong offensive games. But they had five other players score in double figures. They were led by Malik Beasley with 25 points (7 made threes) and Austin Reaves with 17 (he scored 13 points in a 6-minute span in the third!). Two things that were worrisome were the Lakers turning the ball over often in the early part of the game (they eventually ended with 14) and D’Angelo Russell spraining his ankle early after getting tangled up with Donte DiVincenzo. Russell left the game early but his injury is not expected to be serious.
The Warriors were led by Klay Thompson with 22 points. Ty Jerome came off the bench to score 20 while Jordan Poole had 16 (from 3 of 13 shooting). Kevon Looney did have 10 points and 15 boards.
But the Lakers had the game in control for the most part. They outrebounded the Dubs, 58-48. The Lakers had 30 assists. L.A. also went 16 for 30 (.533) from three. The Warriors struggled from the field at .381. And Los Angeles ran Golden State off the court with 29 fast break points; Warriors only had 8.
The Lakers are now 28-32 and 3-1 since the trade deadline. It’s a good step towards the play-in (or maybe the playoffs). Will they be a real serious threat in a week or so? We shall see!
