The Los Angeles Lakers hit the road on Thursday night, looking to snap their three-game losing streak when they took on the Golden State Warriors.
Matchups between the Lakers and Warriors always have some added intrigue, although there was some significant star power missing from this game as Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Marcus Smart, Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler and Kristaps Porzingis were all among the players rule out. With that being the case, the Lakers were able to get back in the win column with a 119-103 victory.
LeBron James is the only start that did play and he was aggressive early with four quick points, while Deandre Ayton had five of his own to get the Lakers out to an early 13-6 lead.
The Lakers were struggling on the defensive glass as the Warriors’ main source of offense in the first quarter was second-chance points. Outside of that though, the Lakers were locked in defensively, allowing James to get out in transition for a pair of easy dunks to give them a 28-23 lead at the end of the first.
The start of the second quarter was a disaster for the Lakers as they couldn’t take care of the ball, allowing the Warriors to rip off a 9-0 run and force a timeout by JJ Redick.
James hit a triple out of the timeout to help steady his team, although a lack of a point guard on the floor was glaring as the turnovers continued to pile up. With Rui Hachimura heating up from deep though, L.A. had a nice 13-4 run to regain the lead.
With Ayton dominating inside, the Lakers ended the half strong, although the Warriors wound up beating the buzzer to cut their deficit to 53-49 going into the locker room.
The Lakers began the third quarter by forcing back-to-back turnovers, leading to five straight points and a quick Warriors timeout. Golden State’s small lineup continued to have no answer for Ayton down low as he helped stretch L.A.’s lead to double digits for the first time.
Unfortunately, James appeared to hurt his hand hitting on the backboard on a chasedown block. He came out of the game and put some ice on it but was eventually able to return. In his absence though, the Lakers continued to put the pressure on defensively and then he came back in and immediately found Bronny James for a triple.
The Lakers went into the fourth quarter with an 82-73 lead, but similar to the third, they began it by ripping off a 6-0 run and forcing a Warriors timeout. James then had yet another breakaway dunk after a Golden State turnover as L.A. took full control early in the fourth and never looked back.
What’s next for the Lakers…
The Lakers will return home to finish out the regular season, hosting the Phoenix Suns on Friday in the second night of a back-to-back and then the Utah Jazz on Sunday.
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