nba

Lakers get 39 from Davis, hold on to beat Warriors

Lakers defeat the Warriors for the third straight time.

This was a win that was sorely needed.

The Lakers led huge very early. They held on to win against those pesky defending champions Golden State Warriors. The Dubs had a little pep in their step with Stephen Curry returning. But Los Angeles took the big fat dub, 113-105. The Lakers beat the Golden State Warriors for the third straight time and won the season series, 3-1.

Los Angeles had a humongous run early. It was 28-5, to be exact. The Lakers led, 32-12, and it felt like we were on our way to a rare Laker blowout.

But we know how these Lakers go. They’ve been very up and down this season and this game was no exception. Jordan Poole, Donte DiVincenzo, and that guy Stephen Curry made some three-pointers while the Lakers missed 13 straight shots. A 17-3 flourish by the Warriors cut the deficit down to one point.

What was great about the Lakers on this Sunday afternoon was the ability to counterpunch when the Warriors got close. Still, the Lakers held on to a precarious 55-54 lead at the half.

The less said about the third quarter, the better. But it’s not like it was the Lakers that were playing ugly in that period, which they’ve been known to do the last two seasons. The Warriors played putrid as well as there were stretches of bricks and passes that led to nowhere. Austin Reaves settled it down by making a three-pointer to boost the lead to 6 points going into the fourth.

I personally like my curry hot or even on fire. But this is ridiculous. Stephen Curry scored 19 of his 27 points in the fourth as they tried a fast and furious rally against the Lakers. The deficit was down to 89-88 halfway through the fourth. L.A. punched back and got the lead back to 8 but back-to-back threes by the Splash Brothers whittled it back down to two. But Los Angeles came through as Anthony Davis made a clutch floater and made all 10 of their foul shots in the last four minutes. Huge huge win for the Lakers. And they also were able to snap the Warriors’ five-game win streak in the process.

This was going down the path of the Minnesota game from Friday. Not necessarily the effort but more about Anthony Davis doing it all by himself again. Well, Davis did have a huge game (39 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, two blocks) but he had plenty of help this time. Five other Lakers scored in double figures and it’s that kind of team effort that they need every single game. They started off hot and cooled down for most of the game. But they had timely buckets to ward off the defending champions every time.

As mentioned, Curry scored 27 points to lead the Warriors. Klay Thompson continues his renaissance season with 22 points. Draymond Green had a bit of a scare early in the game but played through pain in his hand and finished with 15 points and 9 boards. DiVincenzo had 11 and Poole had 10 but both combined to shoot 5 for 19 (.263) from the floor.

The Lakers did their job in the paint; they had 40 points compared to G. State’s 26. What’s impressive is that the Lakers played mostly clean ball with 7 turnovers. It’s just so puzzling to see the Warriors struggle on the road; they are now 7-24 away from San Francisco.

I keep seeing (whether in jest or not) that the Lakers have turned around their season. What they need for the last 17 games are focus, effort, and everyone getting involved. For most of the season, Anthony Davis has come through. Even if he doesn’t score much, I expect him to do great on other facets of the game (like protecting the rim). The Lakers just need everyone else to do their part.

L.A. is now 31-34. Their high water mark this campaign has been two games under .500. They’ll get that chance when they face a Ja Morant-less Grizzlies team on Tuesday night.

Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x