The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Golden State Warriors 113-105 on Sunday, ending their winning run. The Dubs kept losing on the road even though they faced a Lakers club sans LeBron James and welcomed Steph Curry and Andre Iguodala back from injuries.
The Warriors once again found themselves in a big first-quarter hole. Curry looked rusty in his first five minutes of action in over a month and Draymond Green went to the locker room with an apparent hand injury. Without any traction on either end of the floor, the Warriors fell behind 30-12.
Jordan Poole and Jonathan Kuminga provided a much-needed spark off the bench, to begin cutting into the Lakers lead. Green returned to the floor at the start of the second quarter with a wrap around his left hand and Golden State went on a 17-3 run. By halftime, the Warriors had successfully erased most of Los Angeles’ lead, trailing 55-54.
After a back-and-fourth third quarter, the Lakers entered the final quarter with a 78-72 lead. Curry found a rhythm to start the fourth, scoring or assisting on 16 straight Warriors points before he went to the bench with the Dubs trailing 89-88. Unsurprisingly, the Lakers went on a short run 7-3 run while Curry was off the floor.
The Lakers led 98-91 with four minutes left in regulation, leaving the Warriors little room for error. A pair of lapses by Anthony Lamb led to a three by Troy Brown Jr. and a Warriors turnover, but back-to-back threes by Curry and Klay Thompson brought Golden State back within one posession.
Andre Iguodala, in his first game action since January, replaced Lamb in the closing lineup. Head coach Steve Kerr was clearly looking for a more athletic big to close the game on Anthony Davis than starting center Kevon Looney. Davis immediately went at Iguodala and drew a foul.
Curry missed an open three on the other end and Davis knocked down a floater over Green to give the Lakers a 107-101 lead with 48.9 seconds remaining on the clock that put the game out of reach. Davis was a force on Sunday afternoon, taking advantage of the Warriors small frontcourt to score 39 points with 8 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 blocks on 14-for-25 shooting from the field.
Curry played 32 minutes in his return, leading the Warriors with 25 points and 6 assists. Thompson scored 22 points while Green added 15 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 assists.
The Warriors are now 34-31 on the season, just half a game ahead of the Timberwolves in control of the fifth seed in the Western Conference. They are now two games behind the Suns for the fourth seed in the West. The Warriors will continue their road trip on Tuesday when they face the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Source: https://www.goldenstateofmind.com
