The Lakers took the floor for their third preseason game, taking the floor against the Golden State Warriors in a rematch of Thursday’s game. Steve Nash will play in this game after sitting out Thursday, but Jeremy Lin and Jordan Clarkson will sit out after sustaining injuries.
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The Warriors won Thursday’s game 120-105 behind their guards as Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry were almost unstoppable. They will look to build on that performance as they plan on being one of the top teams in the Western Conference.
First Quarter
This game got off to a far worse start for the Lakers than the first meeting. Stephen Curry was absolutely on fire as he hit three straight three-pointers and dished off a beautiful lob to Harrison Barnes. A Klay Thompson dish to David Lee gave the Warriors an 18-4 lead five minutes into the game. Thompson converted a four-point play, the Warriors’ second of the quarter to push the lead to 24-5. The Lakers struggled on offense as most of their shots were contested long two-pointers. Wesley Johnson missed an open dunk and the Warriors pushed the lead out to 28-7. Kobe finally got on the board with a jumper but Thompson immediately matched with a three. Defense and rotations were awful as the Warriors got any shot they wanted. When it was all said and done, the Warriors led 39-13 at the end of the quarter.
Second Quarter
The Lakers got off to a slightly better start in the second quarter with the first seven points behind Wayne Ellington and Robert Sacre. The Warriors quickly matched with back-to-back threes from Leandro Barbosa and Brandon Rush. Things continued to go south for the Lakers as they simply could not buy a basket and the Warriors barely missed. Midway through the quarter the Lakers trailed 52-20 and had made only 6-34 shots. Ellington got a nice layup over Bogut and Price followed with a jumper to get the deficit under 30. The teams traded baskets over the last half of the quarter and Jeremy Tyler hit a nice jumper at the buzzer to cut the Lakers deficit to 63-36 at halftime.
Third Quarter
The second half started similar to first as the Warriors started with an 8-2 run. Kobe hit a jumper and Jordan Hill made a nice couple of plays, but none of it mattered as the Lakers were completely unable to stop the Warriors. Harrison Barnes joined the Warriors’ three-point party before Curry got going again and the Warriors were back up by 34 with five minutes remaining in the quarter. Carlos Boozer continued a solid night with a couple of baskets. Kobe hit another jumper and even Robert Sacre got a long jumper to fall, but the Warriors were simply too much. Lakers turnovers didn’t help the cause and Marreese Speights scored seven points down the stretch to give the Warriors a 100-60 lead heading into the fourth.
Fourth Quarter
The Lakers started off decent in the fourth quarter as Ronnie Price was fouled on a three-pointer and made all three free throws and Sacre was able to convert down low. There was even a defensive sighting as Robert Sacre turned away a Brandon Rush layup attempt. Sacre added another basket to up his total to six for the quarter as the Lakers fought to chip away whatever they could at their massive deficit. Both teams cleared their benches late in the quarter, allowing camp invites to show what they could do. In the end, it was another Warriors victory over the Lakers, 116-75.
[divide]Lakers Post-Game: Julius Randle Talks ‘Rookie Mistakes’ And Lapses
