The Los Angeles Lakers hosted the Golden State Warriors in their final home game of the regular season, a contest that had major standings implications with both teams looking to move up from ninth and 10th in the Western Conference.
Unfortunately, the Lakers were without Anthony Davis due to illness, although LeBron James was able to return despite an illness of his own. Without one star and the other one playing compromised, the Lakers were not able to hang with the Warriors, suffering a 134-120 loss.
Draymond Green got the Warriors off to a nice start with a pair of 3-pointers, although Jaxson Hayes responded with a dunk and then James had a fadeaway to give the Lakers their first lead.
LeBron was aggressive early, drilling a 3-pointer although Stephen Curry immediately responded with one as well while getting fouled.
The Lakers predictably struggled once James went to the bench, while the Warriors remained hot to close out the first quarter, taking a 38-29 lead.
James returned to begin the second quarter and began to shrink the Lakers’ deficit with a pair of layups and a great pass to Russell for another one. Russell then connected from deep as L.A. quickly got back within four.
Green stayed hot, however, and Andrew Wiggins also hit a pair of triples to get Golden State’s lead back to double digits. The 3-point onslaught continued from there with Curry getting in on the action to extend the lead to 58-41.
The Lakers finally got in on the action from deep as Austin Reaves and Spencer Dinwiddie hit a few, cutting the deficit to 71-60 at the half.
L.A. came out strong to begin the third quarter as Rui Hachimura buried a 3 and then James completed a three-point play. After a layup by Reaves, the Warriors to a quick timeout with their lead dwindling to just six.
Just like the first half though, Golden State had a response to end the third quarter. This time it was Klay Thompson and Jonathan Kuminga getting hot from deep to get their lead back to a comfortable 106-89 going into the fourth.
The Lakers began the fourth quarter on another run, scoring nine straight to get back within eight, forcing another Warriors timeout.
Again though, the Warriors had a response out of the timeout with back-to-back triples by Chris Paul and Curry. Kuminga then made a layup and a 3, effectively putting the game out of reach as the Lakers did not have one last comeback in them.
What’s next for the Lakers
The Lakers close out the regular season with two road games, first against the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday and then the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday.
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