With only a handful of games left in the 2013-14 NBA season, the Los Angeles Lakers took on the Golden State Warriors for the last time in Steve Blake’s first trip back to the Staples Center to face his former team.
As usual, the Lakers were without quite a few players due to injuries. Steve Nash, Pau Gasol, Chris Kaman, Kent Bazemore and Xavier Henry were all ruled out. The Warriors also were without one of their best players will Andre Igoudala, but still had Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson running the show.
Unfortunately for the struggling Lakers, the Warriors proved to be too much to handle with the division rival coming out on top, 112-95.
First Quarter
The Lakers battled back and forth with the Warriors in the first quarter with Jordan Hill getting going early and often. As usual, Curry put on a show with fancy footwork and arguably the best shooting stroke in the league. Curry ran the show early in the game with 11 quick points in eight minutes on the floor. Rookie Ryan Kelly countered with eight points of his own. Jordan Farmar ended the quarter with a bang hitting a jumper at the buzzer to tie the game at 26.
Second Quarter
Hill started to come on strong in the second quarter hitting a combination of jump shots and putting some moves on in the post. Blake also got going scoring five points and dishing out three assists while Curry was getting some rest on the bench. Blake continued to feel comfortable offensively against his former team with Curry back on the floor. The veteran point guard started to get hot from beyond the arc hitting 2-of-3 from distance helping extend the Warriors’ lead. Unfortunately, the were unable to keep up as the lead continued to get bigger with the Warriors heading into halftime up, 58-43.
Third Quarter
Golden State continued to extend their lead in the third quarter with Curry and company going up by 15 with about seven minutes left in the quarter. Hill (14) and Kelly (12) were able to hit double digits to go along with seven rebounds apiece. The rest of the Lakers didn’t fair as well with the team struggling to produce offensively while trying to contain an explosive Warriors squad. Curry really came into his own in this quarter increasing his total to 25 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds. Curry also had arguably the play of the day with a behind-the-back dish to Blake for a corner three. Lakers ended the quarter down, 83-69.
Fourth Quarter
Los Angeles started the final quarter against the Warriors down 14 points with Golden State in complete control of the game. Nick Young became the third Laker to reach double figures with 25 points, but it was nowhere near enough to cut the deficit with the Warriors in cruise control. Hill continued to give Golden State problems reaching 18 points and 12 boards. Meeks on the other hand had arguably one of his worst shooting performances of the season going 2-of-12 from the floor and getting most of his points (10) from the charity stripe. Curry would finished with a triple-double after dominating the Lakers on Friday night with 30 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds. Ultimately, despite a late charge by Young, the Lakers fell to the Warriors, 112-95.
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