Warriors rout hapless Lakers
The Golden State Warriors won their second game in as many nights, earning a 109-88 road victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday.
Klay Thompson scored a game-high 36 points. Stephen Curry added 17 points and six assists, while Draymond Green filled the stat sheet with nine points, 12 rebounds and five assists. With the win, Golden State improves to 33-2, the best start through 35 games in NBA history.
If the Warriors were fatigued playing on the second night of a back-to-back, you couldn’t tell by the way Klay Thompson and Brandon Rush started the game. Each player sank a three-pointer on the Dubs’ first two possessions of the game, and that proved to be a sign of things to come.
Thompson and Rush would combine to score all of the Warriors’ first 25 points of the game, pacing Golden State to a 25-18 lead with 4:57 remaining in the first quarter. Thompson, who had accounted for 17 of those points, would add five more in the first frame for a total of 22 points in the quarter, leading the way for the Dubs as Golden State held a 37-25 lead at the end of one.
Thompson would get a rest to start the second quarter, but the rest of the Warriors picked up the slack in his absence.
After Marreese Speights and Harrison Barnes took turns scoring the first two Golden State baskets of the frame, Stephen Curry and Draymond Green combined to score or assist on all but one of the Warriors’ remaining baskets of the quarter.
Curry sank his second three-pointer of the quarter and third of the game with 9.3 seconds left in the half, but Jordan Clarkson would sink a three-pointer of his own with 1.5 seconds remaining on the clock to send the game into halftime with the Warriors holding a 62-47 advantage.
Despite trailing by 15 points, things could have been a lot worse for the Lakers. Golden State held Los Angeles to 14-of-42 (.333) shooting in the first half, but the Lakers managed to keep themselves in the game by outscoring the Warriors 16-0 from the free throw line.
The Lakers would cut the deficit to 66-55 with 8:04 remaining in the third quarter, but that was as close as they’d get for the rest of the game.
Curry’s finger roll on the ensuing possession would kick-start a 22-0 Golden State run over the next five minutes, putting the game out of reach for good. Two Klay Thompson free throws would give him 36 points in the contest and close out the scoring in the frame, sending the game into the fourth and final quarter with the Warriors leading 92-60.
With the victory well in hand, Luke Walton benched the starters and allowed his reserves to finish the game. Little by little, the Lakers would nibble away at the huge deficit, but their efforts were futile.
Harrison Barnes scored eight points in the fourth quarter while Marreese Speights chipped in another four, providing more than enough firepower to seal the win.
Los Angeles would outscore Golden State 28-17 in the final frame and close out the game on a 9-2 run, but they had dug themselves far too deep a hole to climb all the way out of, as the Warriors coasted to a 109-88 victory.
With the win, the Warriors advance to 33-2 on the season. They’ll now head to Portland for a matchup with the Trail Blazers in their next game on Friday night.
Read more at: Golden State Warriors Media Services / More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA
JEstevez@EMIsportsCentral.com
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