Although the shorthanded Los Angeles Lakers were hoping to get their final homestand of the 2018-19 NBA season started on the right foot, the Golden State Warriors proved to be too much for them to handle.
The Warriors got off to a hot start as their effort on the defensive end led to easy buckets on offense. The Lakers seemed overwhelmed by their opponent’s star power early on as head coach Luke Walton was forced to call a timeout after his team fell behind 14-4 with eight minutes left in the quarter.
Things did not get much easier for Los Angeles coming out of the break as Golden State caught fire after going 7-for-12 from deep to start the game. Meanwhile, the Lakers missed their first 10 three-point attempts and it was not long before the Warriors built a 20-point lead down the final stretch of the opening period.
After producing a season-low 12 points in the first quarter, the Lakers were able to show some signs of life thanks to two monstrous dunks by Jonathan Williams to start the second quarter. Mike Muscala also finally managed to scratch from deep for the Lakers by hitting their first three-pointer of the game to cut the lead back down to 20.
Los Angeles was able to step things up on the defensive end after forcing Golden State to commit 12 turnovers that helped kickstart a bit of a resurgence. Although the Lakers somehow managed to outscore the Warriors in the second quarter, they still found themselves down 60-42 at halftime.
Their intensity on defense carried over from the first half but they still struggled to get anything going on offense which allowed Golden State to find their rhythm once again early in the third quarter. Rajon Rondo was the only Laker to reach double digits while the Warriors already had five to put themselves up by 28 points going into the final period.
While Los Angeles may have been just playing for pride at this point, Williams’ energy continued to be contagious and he quickly joined Rondo as the only Lakers to score in double figures up to that point.
